


Love Always Hurts

by Berch



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Abusive Parents, Angst, Bisexual Characters, Demisexual Characters, F/M, Fluff, High School, Homosexual characters, Lemon, M/M, Smut, fairy tail - Freeform, high school alternate universe, nalu lemon, probably some smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-21
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-03-31 12:57:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 34,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3978895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Berch/pseuds/Berch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natsu Dragneel has had a hard life, but so has Lucy Heartfilia. What will happen when these two lost souls find each other - at high school of all places?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh!!! First chapter of my second Fairy Tail fan fiction! My work is also on Wattpad (but wattpad is pretty bad for fanfiction)  
> Hope you guys enjoy!!

My name. That's the first thing people want to know about me, not that many people ask. That was probably the first thing someone not related to me asked about yours truly. Well, I'm sure you'll want to know as well.

My name is Natsu Dragneel. That's not actually my last name, but I am ashamed to carry my real surname. You'll probably want to know a bit more about me if you want any of what I'm about to tell you to make sense. I am a junior at Magnolia's Privelate High School for the rich and prestigious. I'm a basketball player, believe it or not, and I am not particularly liked by anyone. My parents barely ever come home, pay only for mortgage, heating, water bills, ect., and leave me to pay for anything else that I want, which includes my phone, clothes, food, textbooks, anything. I work full time in the summer with my Sensei, Igneel, who helps me pay for things when times get rough.

I think that's about all you need to know about me, besides the fact that just because I don't fit it, doesn't mean I'm not a disturbance. Most people would try to make themselves as small as possible if they were in my position, but I don't really care about what people think about me. They can call me Satan for all I care. Now, here's the story.

 

 

I tugged at the collar I my school uniform as I traveled down the hallway to my first period classroom. I sat my stuff down by the window as I sat down in the seat connected to the desk. I stared at the door, waiting for Gray Fullbuster to come in and pick a fight with me, like he did almost every day. Instead, a small blonde girl walked in, eyes wide and gleaming. She was talking with one of the quiet girls, Levy McGarden, with Erza Scarlet trailing behind. Erza?! She was junior class president, pretty much alpha male (even though she was a _girl_ ), and was dating a senior. Speaking of, Jellal came up behind the redhead and surprised her by kissing her cheek, which made her jump and turn to kiss him on the mouth. Levy giggled at the couple, and the blonde stared in awe. Lisanna Strauss came over and began talking to Levy and the new girl. Wow...this girl had made more friends, might I add popular friends, in less than one day than I had, and I had been at that school for my entire life. A hand slammed down on my desk.

"Being a pervert, Dragneel?" Gray followed my gaze the the new girl. "You checking her out?"

"Cut it out, Fuckbuster." I snapped, standing up to meet his height.

"Why? I just asked a simple question, I expect you to answer me, hothead." We glared at each other, like dogs about to fight.

"You little bitches better not be fighting!" Erza shouted from across the room.

"Why ever would we be fighting?" Gray asked, turning to glance at the glaring girl.

"Cause you fight so much I can't keep track. Save it for later."

I saw Lisanna and Levy giggle as they turned to presumably tell the new girl about my record of fights. I sighed, sitting down as the bell rang, and Gray hopped into his seat so he could keep up his appearance. This would be a long day, longer than usual.

I had every class in the morning session with that new girl, Lucy Heartfilia. I was placed next to her in second period, but she didn't talk much. I caught Gray staring at her ass though, even though I knew he has a thing for Juvia. Why they (Gray and Juvia,) weren't dating, I couldn't tell ya. Sitting along at lunch now, i stared at my phone, hoping something would be updated or that someone would go online, but everyone online had lives had lives and I didn't. Figures.

I got up, walking to the choir room, but not before stealing a quick glance at Lucy, who seemed to be surrounded by all the popular girls, and by some guys, too. Sighing, I left the cafeteria.

I pressed a key on the piano and the sound echoed through the empty room. I sat down at the bench, and played one of the only songs I knew by heart, singing the lyrics as I played.

_Say something I'm giving up on you._

_I'll be the one if you want me to._

_Anywhere I, would've followed you._

_Say something I'm giving up on you._

_And I, am feeling so small._

_It was over my head, I know nothing at all._

_And I, will stumble and fall._

_I'm still learning to love, just starting to crawl._

_Say something I'm giving up on you._

_And I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you._

_Anywhere I would've followed you._

_Say something I'm giving up on you._

_And I, will swallow my pride._

_You're the one that I love, and I'm saying goodbye._

_Say Something I'm giving up on you._

_And I'm sorry that I couldn't get to you._

_Anywhere I would've followed you._

_Oh, Say something I'm giving up on you._

My hands fell by my sides when I finished and I slowly pressed my head to the keys. A small tear escaped my eye, but I didn't care. No one should've heard that, let alone seen it.

"That was beautiful." A small voice said from the entry way.

Well fuckety fuck fuck fuck fuck. Fuck.

I looked up to see who the voice belonged to, and was surprised to see Lucy. I quickly wiped the tear off my face before she noticed it.

"S-sorry." She said, looking at her hands. "I just saw you leaving lunch and you looked really sad so I thought I would come and see if you were alright. I guess-"

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

"I just wanted to make sure-"

"I'm fine."

"Like hell you are, Dragneel." Gray appeared behind Lucy, resting his arm above her head from behind. She spun to gaze up at him before turning back to me.

"Shut it, Ice Princess." I spat in disgust at the black haired freak.

"Ice Princess?" Gray cackled, like a fucking witch. "That's a new one, hot head. Do you write your own material?"

"You should ask yourself that, you shitastic excuse for a human."

"Natsu." Lucy snapped, elbowing Gray in the gut. Gray held his hands up, playfully surrendering to the blonde. He was such a suck up it made me sick just to think about.

"Sorry, Lucy, but this brat deserves it, though."

"No one deserves to be talked to that way." She shot a pointed look at me. "That goes for both of you."

"Sorry..." Gray and I mumbled reluctantly.

The bell rang just then, and Gray chuckled as he walked off. Lucy gave me a look I couldn't read as she opened her mouth to speak. "Why do you guys hate each other so much? God, it's like a civil war or something."

"We've known each other for a long time." I said between clenched teeth. "Our personalities clash."

"Whose wouldn't clash with yours?"

"No ones. That's the point. Erza saw it first, so she told everyone not to get on my nerves. Well she fucked that up now everyone just ignores me."

"Erza seems to have a lot of authority around here. Everyone just seems really submissive to her."

I scoffed. "Yeah, well there's two reasons for that. The first is that she's scary as hell, and the second is that she's our class president."

"No one mentioned that! And she isn't that scary."

"Just don't get on her bad side.

" "I try not to get on anyone's bad side."

"I can tell." I stopped in front of the hallway of the science wing. "Here's my stop," I said, nodding toward the first door in the left. "I'm going to scream if we have this class together, too."

Lucy glared at me. She was so cute when she glared. Did I just think that? "I'm actually in this class." She pointed to the door adjacent to my classroom.

"Ah, you got the fun teacher. Consider yourself lucky." I turned toward my classroom, opening the door.

"Whatever." We parted ways, sneaking one last look at each other before shutting the door.

 

I didn't have another class with the new girl. To be honest, I kind of wish I did. It was strange. I thought I hated her. It's not like we particularly liked each other. Lucy was special, someone I hadn't encountered for a long time. A long time. She was someone that I knew could pull me out of my shell, destroy the walls I've spent so long building so that no one could get in. 

But I knew she could.

I stopped by my locker after school to grab my basketball stuff and headed to the locker rooms to change. When I had finished, I walked out the gym and took out my phone, waiting for practice to start. The cheerleaders would usually practice in the small auxiliary gym, which was practically part of the main gym with only small posts in between the open spaces for bleachers when games or assembly's were in order. I sat in the bleachers that were bulging from the wall that wasn't connected to the auxiliary gym.

I opened my chat room, looking to see if anyone had gone online. Nothing. Everyone had a life, and I was still waiting for mine to begin.

The giggles of the cheerleaders filled my ears. I groaned to myself as I looked up from my phone to glare at the bubbly girls trickling in through the door. Head cheer leader, Mirajane Strauss walked into the room, talking with her sister, Lisanna. I used to be good friends with the Straaus family, that is until my family became estranged from me and everyone else. Lisanna and I had always been good friends - we had actually dated in eight grade for seven and a half months, until I didn't show up to school one year because my parents wanted to find me a private tutor. (This didn't work out well, if you couldn't tell. The tutor couldn't handle my _eccentric_ attitude about school.) That's when we became strangers. We would barely ever talk, and when we did, it was awkward, mainly about the weather.

I sighed, noticing that my coach would obviously be late to practice today, and shoved ear buds in my ears and listened to my music with a tuned ear. I closed my eyes, knowing I had a while to rest before the coach came and made us run twelve laps.

 

 

She laughed like she wouldn't leave me soon. She pulled my hand with her short arm, and I stumbled along with her. I didn't realize that would be the last time I would touch her. "Wendy, stop!" I yanked my hand away, catching my phone that I almost dropped. "This is really expensive. I don't want it getting broken."

She giggled, batting her hands as the gleaming object in my hand. "Shiny!" She squealed, laughing with delight.

"Wendy I said don't-" She hit the phone directly, causing it to fall from my loose grip and shatter onto the sidewalk. She gasped as the glass cascaded, putting a hand over her mouth. "Natsu, I sowwy, I didn't mean to-"

"I told you not to do that! I knew it would break! How am I going to explain this to mom an dad?" Tears welled up in her eyes and she ran towards our house. I sighed, picking up the main structure of my phone and examining the remaining pieces. It was ruined. I would probably have to buy a new one myself. I looked up over to where Liana had just been running. She was walking slowly in the street now, seeing that I wasn't running to come after her. That's when I saw it. The car rounded a corner at lightning speed, and the driver as high as the Empire State Building.

"Wendy!" I screeched, jumping up and running to try and save her. She turned toward me, a smile on her face, her eyes red and puffy from crying, just as the car impacted upon her small body.

 

I jerked upward. I was drenched in a cold sweat from the nightmare I had had in the small amount of time I had been asleep. I put my hand to my chest, trying to slow the pulse of my heart enough to breathe at a normal pace. When I achieved my goal, I checked the time on my phone. 3:27. Practice should've started seven minutes ago. A playful chorus of screams erupted from the auxiliary gym as one of the girls at the base of a pyramid fell, causing the rest to topple on top of the former.

"Were you sleeping, Natsu?" A familiar voice said from beside me. Lucy twitched her eyebrow up as she stared down at me. Great.

"Oh, hey Lucy." I said, trying to be cheerful despite my terrible dream. I then realized she was wearing athletic wear. Why would she be wearing athletic wear in the middle of November- she was a cheerleader. Of course. I laughed. "Oh god, you're a cheerleader." I rested my head against the row of bleachers behind me, resting my arm over my eyes.

"Yeah, I tried out as an eight grader, just for fun, and I practically cried when I found out I had been accepted. My old high school had a really big team, so it was really no trouble getting onto the squad."

"How did you persuade _Mira_ to let you on the team?"

Lucy giggled. "The head cheerleader wrote the school a very detailed letter of what she would do to your school if I wasn't let on the team."

"Jeez. Hardcore much?"

Lucy gave me a weird look. "Sure..."

I rested my weight on my arms. "So. You're pretty popular at this school."

"Yeah, I guess. I'm already friends with Levy, but she's not a cheerleader."

"She's perky enough to be one," I muttered, looking at my shoes.

Lucy sighed. "She's just not into all-" She motioned to the gym around us. "this."

"Yeah. Levy is very...I don't know the word. Indoorsy? Is that the word?"

Lucy laughed. "Yeah I'm pretty sure that's it. She doesn't seem like an outdoors type of girl."

I shrugged one shoulder. "Everyone has their different interests and hobbies. Not everyone has to like sports."

"I remember everyone at Zentopia High forced each other into sports. It was really annoying and bad for the team when we just had a bunch of students sitting on the sidelines doing their own thing. I felt bad for them."

"Yeah..." I paused, thinking about my own parents and childhood. "So," I looked her in the eye. "Isn't practice starting?"

Lucy's eyes widened at she shot her head in the direction on the auxiliary gym. "Shit!" She yelled. "I'm going to be late on the first day!" She grabbed her bag and ran across the gym. 

I raised my hand to wave, then pulled it back down, not seeing the point. She wouldn't see it. Not that she would care even if she did.

The coach blowed the whistle, appointing the beginning of practice.

I changed in the locker room and saw Lucy walking out of the bathroom in sweat pants and a big sweatshirt. Hm. "Nice look, Heartfilia." I mocked playfully as I walked by her side.

"Ew, you smell like sweat."

"It's to attract the aliens."

"What?" She shook her head, cracking a smile. "Never mind. There's probably some weird story behind that."

"No, I just made that up, actually."

Lucy sighed. "You are a strange one. Why are you following me, anyway?"

I looked at the exit. "Uh, I'm walking home." I pushed the door open, not bothering to hold it open for her.

"Where do you live?" She inquired doubtfully.

 

"Over by the big mansion past the elementary school. It's pretty far out, you wouldn't know it-" "I live in that big mansion."

My jaw dropped. "Fuck. You mean we're neighbors?!"

Lucy sighed. "Apparently." We began to walk the same direction, but she was obviously headed toward the parking lot. "You said you walked? That's pretty far. I could give you a ride." I saw her wince after she said that, regretting her choice. I smirked, remembering her earlier comment about me smelling.

"I would love to get a ride from you." She rolled her eyes and unlocked a red convertible.

"This way, airhead." She pointed me in the direction of her car. I was heading toward the junkyard car. That seemed more her style.

I hopped over the door, not bothering to open it, and buckled my seat belt.

"Could you get in my, might I add, very expensive, car right next time?"

I shrugged. "Maybe I could. I probably won't, but I might."

She rolled her eyes, Turing the car on and flipping through stations on the radio until she found one that she liked.

"Ugh." I groaned as the auto correct twisted my eardrums. "Your choice in music is so generic." I changed the station to find one playing Fall Out Boy, and sat back in my seat, listening to the bass drop. "I am the opposite of amnesia..." The radio crackled. Auto corrected singing filled my ears once more. "That was my favorite part." I mumbled, opening one eye to look at her.

"And this is my car. We'll listen to what I want." The car ride was pretty much silent besides all of the slight sing-muttering Lucy did as she drive through the forested area to where our houses lied.

Lucy pulled into her driveway, not bothering to ask where my house was.

"Uh..."

"Are you coming or what?" Lucy asked as if it were the most obvious thing in the world to where we were going.

"Coming...?"

"Inside." Lucy nodded to the entrance of her HUGE house.

I hopped over the door again and Lucy glared at me.

"Didn't I ask you not to do that?"

"You asked me not to get  _in_ that way."

"Ugh, whatever."

The inside of Lucy's house was an extreme improvement from the outside, and the outside was pretty much perfect. There were at least three living rooms, two kitchens, marble floors, three stair cases, and it was so, freaking, _modern_. Everything was slick and shiny, sharp and pointed.

"Christ, you have a huge house." I mumbled and I ran my hand across one of the counter tops.

"Yeah, I get that a lot. I had a pretty big house back in Zentopia as well."

"Well, Zentopia is pretty prestigious on its own. Magnolia isn't like that. Not like this, any way."

"Well, we had this place remodeled before we moved in. My brother, Lucian, picked out the decor."

"You have a brother?"

"Yeah. He's 19."

"Where is he?"

"At work."

"Oh."

"Why?"

"Cause I wanted to meet him."

"Why?"

"I don't know." The conversation was pretty much over after that. "So," I said after a moment of awkward silence. "Why'd you bring me to your house?"

"I don't know. I just felt like having someone over on my first day here would make me feel better." Lucy looked at her hands, her brows furrowed together.

"Why don't you invite friends from Zentopia over?"

"Well Zentopia is really far away, and, I don't know..." She stood up straight and walked over to the fridge. "No one was a real friend to me over there."

I sat up in the stool I was sitting in. "You mean you didn't have friends?"

"I didn't say that," Lucy turned to me holding a coke in her hand. "I said no one was a real friend to me. They only cared about me because I could get them guys and money." She turned the tab on the coke to open it. "No one really cared when my mom died, or when I invited them to my brothers graduation, or when I told them I was moving. I had one real friend, the head cheerleader. She was the only one who ever really cared about my feelings." Lucy's breath shattered at she inhaled. "I hope here will be different." Her voice was just above a whisper. I stared at her with wide eyes.

Why would anyone ever do that? I never got why you would pretend to be someone's friend. It didn't make sense to me. I used to have friends, before my parents ruined all of my friendships. They were real friends. I could trust them and rely on them for anything. I was happy.

"Please don't cry..." I said as I reached across the countertop to brush my fingers against hers. "I don't know how to comfort girls." Lucy rolled her eyes, smacking my lower arm, all signs of tears gone.

"I wouldn't dream of crying in front of you."

"Yeah right."

The distant sound of a door opening interrupted our squabble. "Lucy? You home?" A voice called, the volume increasing. "Dad wanted to know if you-" A blonde guy walked into the room, wearing slacks, a blue button down shirt, and oddly, a leather jacket. "Oh." He said, looking between us.

"Hi."

"Yo."

I stood up and walked over to him, holding out my hand for a shake. "I'm Natsu Dragneel."

The man took my hand, shaking it firmly. "Luke, Lucy's older brother." The man, Luke, eyed Lucy. "You brought a guy over looking like that?" He gestured to her baggy clothes and messy bun.

"He's not my _boyfriend_ , Luke. He's not even my friend."

"We're homies."

"Associates."

"Compadres."

"Classmates."

"Gal pal."

"Comrades."

"Main man."

"Did you just call me a man?"

"No."

"I think you did."

 

"I think you did," Luke seconded for Lucy, laughing at our small counter. "You guys are entertaining." "We should have a show." I spread my arms above my head. "Lucy and Natsu, Unusual Friends." Lucy scoffed. "That's sounds like something off of Animal Planet."

"Animal Planet is the bomb." Luke said, walking to the fridge and mindlessly looking inside. "Anyway," He shut the fridge, turning to Lucy. "Dad wants to know if you want to go to dinner." He looked at me. "I don't think he'd have a problem with your boyfriend-compadre-associate-classmate tagging along." I felt my face heat up. I hadn't known Lucy 24 hours and I was already meeting her family. Lucy smirked. "Of course! Natsu would love to meet dad, wouldn't you, _compadre_?" She rested her chin in her hand as she stared sweetly at me.

No. No I would not. "Yeah, sure I guess."

"Great. We're going to Fairy Tail."

"Fairy Tail?!" I stared wide eyed at Luke.

Fairy Tail the absolute best restaurant in Fiore. Only the best chefs were hired there, and only the best dishes were served. I had only gone twice myself, and even then, I was very young.

"Yeah, I heard it's good."

"Good?! It's the best! It is honestly the best food I've ever eaten in my entire life. Plus they have really good service." I sighed. "But it's _so_ expensive."

"Lucky for you we sit on mounds of cash." Luke smirked and he took a sup of Lucy's coke before she snatched it away from him. He chuckled, eyeing her outfit once again. "You two might want to change if this place is that nice."

"Ugh, fine. When are we leaving?" Lucy inquired. "Well, dad said he'll be there around 6:30, and it's 5:20 now." "

Oh so I can stay like this for another hour and 20 minutes!"

"Lucy," Luke set a hand on Lucy's shoulder. "It takes you an hour and 20 minutes to get ready." He grabbed her coke and spun her in the direction of the nearest stair case. "Go get ready." "You can go home and change if you want." Luke told me. "Just come back when you're ready."

"Aye, sir." I gave him a salute, and walked in the direction we came in.

"Wait, you need a ride, don't you?"

I looked over my shoulder at Lucy's brother. "Nah, I live a few houses down."

"Oh...alright. Meet me back here when you're ready then."

"Will do."

I dressed in a button down shirt, black slacks and a tie. I didn't see the need to wear a jacket. It was always hot in Magnolia.

Just like me.

I stalked down the road to Lucy's house at 4:30, dreading meeting her dad. Her brother seemed to think highly of me, but he obviously didn't realize Lucy and I were anything but friends. "There you are!" Luke exclaimed when I stepped into the kitchen. "I was beginning to think you weren't coming back." He turned his phone off and set it on the counter, downing the rest of the coke he stole from Lucy. "You can go upstairs and check on her if you want."

"Is she still getting ready?" I asked, eyeing the stair case. Luke rolled his eyes. "I told you, she takes and hour and a half to get ready."

"Wow."

 

"You don't have sisters do you?" He chuckled, lifting the can to his lips before realizing it was empty. "Nah." I replied quickly, not wanting to think about how I still could have one.

"Any siblings?"

"Zip."

"That's to bad," Luke replied. "They're a lot of fun."

"I used to have a sister."

His eyes widened. "I'm sorry, bro."

I shrugged. "It was a long time ago."

"Still."

I looked at the stair case again. "I think I'll go check on her now."

"Kay." Luke said quickly, picking up his phone. "No pervy stuff with my 'lil sis, though."

I laughed. "Wouldn't dream of it."

It took me a while to find Lucy's room. That was before I realized that all of the doors were black, except one, which was white. I hesitated before knocking on the door. "Lucy?"

"Natsu!" Thumping filled my ears, followed by the creaking of hinges. Lucy stood in front of me in a silk robe, her hair fixed in a bun on top of her head. Her makeup was done perfectly, the wings of her eyeliner curling at the smallest angel possible.

"Uh..." I droned, sweeping my eyes over the bathrobe. Before I could say anything else, I was yanked into Lucy's bedroom. "Wha-"

"Never mind!" Lucy snapped impatiently, dragging me across her HUGE room to her bed. What was she doing?

"So I wasn't sure if I should wear this dress or the blouse and skirt but I really wanted to wear this dress but it's super hard to zip up by my self-" She gasped. "You can zip it up!" She spun me around so I faced the door. "Don't turn around!" I heard the shuffle of her feet along with the slam of a door, presumably the door to her closet. Did she want fashion advice from ME?! What did I get myself into?

"Alright," Lucy muttered as she walked out of the closet. "You can turn around."

If I expected to see her face, I was highly disappointed. Her back faced me, the zipper of her dress awaiting me to pull on the cord and join the two sides of her dress. "Uh..." I tugged at the zipper, but it wouldn't be that easy. Her hips were just a bit too big for the slim dress. I pulled the bottom of the dress down, hoping that would make a difference. I grunted as I pulled the zipper up farther, catching a bit of her skin.

"Ow, Natsu. That hurts." Lucy whimpered, twitching away from me.

"It's not my fault you have big hips." I mumbled before grunted again, zipping the zipper past her hips. I sighed, pulling the tab up farther on her back. My fingers brushed her bra as I finished zipping the dress. She stirred.

"You're cold." She whispered.

"I'm always cold." I whispered back.

The door swung open, revealing Luke, his face twisted. "What the hell you guys-" He paused, looking between us. "What-"

"Natsu's helping me zip my dress up, Luke." Lucy said as if it were the most obvious thing ever. "What are you doing?"

"I, uh, I-"

"Were you standing next to the door?!" Lucy exclaimed. I smiled at the face she was making.

"Well it was kinda hard not to!" Luke fired back. Lucy raised her eyebrow, resting her fists on her hips.

"Please elaborate." "Uh, first you guys were being all 'No we're not dating! We hate each other!' Then Natsu agreed to meet dad. He would only do that if he wanted to make a good impression on you. I told him you were upstairs, and he came up here so of course I was like 'Okay let's see how this guy treats my little sis,' so I came up here and heard you tell him 'don't turn around,' his grunting and you saying how it hurt and how he's cold so of course I thought you were doing something else!"

"Lucian, you're such an idiot." Lucy chuckled as she brushed past the both of us out the door. I burst out laughing as soon as I couldn't hear her foot steps. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad, after all.

We arrived at Fairy Tail around 6:20. After the awkward encounter we had, we sat around and laughed for an hour before we decided it was time to meet their dad. My palms were sweating like crazy as I entered the restaurant, obviously nervous about meeting Lucy's father. "If you're that nervous," Lucy asked, walking beside me.

"Why did you agree to come?"

"I had nothing better to do."

"Yeah right." I rolled my eyes as I waited behind Luke for our table. Meeting Lucy's dad wasn't the only reason I was nervous. 

"Hello, welcome to Fairy Tail." The voice I was dreading filled my ears.

"How may I- NATSU DRAGNEEL?!"

"No...." I titled my head down, awaiting a massive yelling fit.

"Erza?" Lucy asked, appearing from behind me. "I didn't know you worked here!"

"Lucy!" Erza exclaimed, walking past me to hug her friend. "What are you doing with Dragneel? Here?"

"My brother invited him cause he's our neighbor."

"Don't-" "You live next to the Heartfilias?" I reluctantly nodded, not wanting to get injured like I usually do.

"I'm happy Lucy has friends, but can we get a table?" Luke spoke up from behind us, cutting into our conversation. Thank god.

"Oh, of course." Erza held her appearance as she lead us through the dimly lit restaurant. She sat us at a table in the center of the room. She handed us each menus as we each took a side of the table to sit at. I sat between the two siblings, Lucy to my left and Luke to my right. We made small talk about the food and weather.

"Who's this?" A booming voice asked from above me head. My head shot up to stare at an incredibly tall man with light brown hair towering over me. I stood up to greet him, holding my hand out for him to shake.

"I'm Natsu Dragneel, a friend of Lucy's."

Lucy's dad didn't take my hand before he sat in his seat and began looking through the menu. "How was school today, Lucy?" Her father asked, not looking at her.

"It was fine." Lucy replied, obviously not wanting to carry one the conversation.

"Did you change any classes when you transferred?"

"Nope." I looked between the two, then looked at Luke. He shook his head at me, signaling me not to say anything.

"Is Magnolia High nice?"

 

"It's nice enough."

"Made any friends?"

"A few." The conversation went on for a bit longer before it died out completely.

"Natsu," Lucy's father said, alarming me.

"Yes sir?"

"You said your name was Dragneel?" He didn't look up from the menu.

"Yes, sir."

"Do you have any relations to Igneel Dragneel?"

"We're not related," I started. "I'm estranged from my own family, so I took his last name. He's my martial arts teacher."

"What is your real last name?"

 I hesitated before telling him, afraid of the name. I was also afraid of what he would do to me if I didn't tell him. "Etherious, sir."

He looked up at me. "Are you the son of Zeref Etherious?" His voice was so cold, it gave me shivers. I nodded slowly.

"Hm." His eyebrows furrowed together and he looked back at the menu.

Shortly after, the waitress came and took our order. I sighed out loud when I realized it wasn't Erza. I made small talk with Luke until our food came, and we all began to eat. I ate my food the quickest, as I was always hungry.

"What non-required classes are you taking this year, Lucy?" Her father asked between bites.

"I'm taking an astronomy class."

"Astronomy isn't worth your while."

"I'm interested in it."

"You'll never make it in the astronomy business."

"I never said I'm going to be an astronomer." Lucy snapped at her father.

"Why are you taking the class then?" Lucy grabbed her napkin and wiped her mouth before getting up and walking to the back of the restaurant, out of sight.

"With all do respect, sir," I began. "Lucy has the right to take classes that she is interested in."

"She needs to take classes that will get her farther in her career."

"And what is that?"

"She will be Vice President of Heartfilia Konzern."

"What if that's not what she wants?"

"She doesn't know what she wants."

"She is 17 years old. She can decide what she wants for herself." I got up and followed Lucy to the back of the restaurant, leaving a $50 bill in the center of the table.

I found Lucy in a corner next to the bathroom, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her close to my chest. "Don't cry, Luce." I whispered gently against her hair. "Don't cry."

"I-I-I ca-ca-can't help i-it." She whimpered against my shirt. "I j-j-just want him to see-" A sob broke from her lips and she buried her face in my chest, arms flinging around me to press herself to me. We stayed there for a few minutes before Lucy stopped crying, but still, she clung to me like her last dying breath. She smelled of vanilla and strawberries. The smells swirled in my nose and clung to my shirt, but I didn't mind. I knew what she was going through. I knew why she shed so many tears that night. She didn't tell me why just then, but I knew. I had always known.

Luke asked me to take Lucy to my house that night. He had said things would just get worse between his father and Lucy if she went home. So I took her to my house. Sadly, my house wasn't nearly as big as hers. I only had three bedrooms, but we didn't look in the third. Ever.

"So, uh," I said as I opened the door for her. "We only have two bedrooms. You can sleep on the couch if you-"

"Can I sleep in your room?" She asked quietly as she stepped into my house.

"Uh, sure, if you want to, I guess." She nodded as she turned to the stair case, walking up the steps to my room. "Oh, yeah, I guess you could just-" She slammed the door behind her. Did she expect me to sleep on the couch? Ah, hell nah. "Lucy!" I said sternly as I rapped on the door.

"Can you unzip my dress?" She asked as she opened the door. Her hair fell around her shoulders and all of her makeup was gone, but I could hardly tell.

"What are you going to wear to bed?" I asked, stepping in my room. The dark decor of my room was a stark contrast to what Lucy was wearing. I hadn't really noticed the detailed on her dress until now. It was light pink, almost white, and flared out at the ends. The patterns of the fabric were so intricate and small I could barely feel them when I turned her around the get to her zipper.

Unzipping the dress was much easier than zipping it, thankfully. I walked over to my dresser and dug up a long t-shirt and held it out to her. I left the room when she took it hesitantly, giving her space to change.

After a few minutes, I went back in my room with a glass of water for her, but she was already passed out on my bed, her fists curled next to her face and her brows furrowed together as she slept. I smiled down at her, covering her with a blanket.

I lied down, facing away her watching the light on my clock blink on and off before I fell asleep. I had only been able to wonder what the next day would bring


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucy builds her relationships with Levy and Erza.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Ahhh ily all so much! Thank you for the meager amount of hits and kudos last chapter! It means a lot to me.  
> Anyway, there won't be much NaLu in that chapter. Sorry :/ this chapter is mainly about Lucy building relationships with other people in her class, like Levy and Erza. Hopefully there will be more shippy stuff in the next chapter though. I'm thinking about switching povs every chapter, but I'm not sure yet. The story is mainly based on Natsu, but Lucy has a realllllly big part in it, as well. I have a few little fanfare things I want to put in this fic, but other than that I mainly know what I'm going to do. Eeeee I'm excited to get into all the fun stuff >:)

_Lucy_

Natsu woke up before me that next morning. He handed me a bagel when I opened my eyes. I stared at the round bread in my hand before I took a bite into it.

My uniform was laid out of the bathroom sink when I walked in. Did he just have a girls uniform here? I picked up the shirt, and a note fell from the pocket.Ran to your house to get your car and uniform. Hope you don't mind.

I smiled at the note, immediately assuming it was from Natsu.

Natsu was leaning against my car when I exited his house, his arms folded to his chest. "You ready?" He asked, smirking as he opened the car door.

"Are you driving?" Natsu looked at the steering wheel he held in his hands.

"Oh, yeah. Do you care?"

I shrugged. "I probably shouldn't be driving. Some idiot will probably piss me off."

"Ram 'em with a stick." I raised my eyebrow as I buckled my seat belt.

"Get me one and I will." The rest of the drive was rather quiet. A morning breeze found it's way into the car, causing me to shiver. I tried to close the top, but it wouldn't budge.

"Stupid," I growled as repeatedly pushed the button. "Fucking," I pushed it harder. "Thing!" I slammed my hand down, causing the dash board to quiver. I shivered as I sat back in my seat. I dug around in my bag for my sweater, but it was no where to be found. Great.

"Do you want my jacket?" Natsu asked, pushing the blue material my way. "I don't need it. I never get cold."

I hesitated.Then, another breeze filled the air and I grabbed the coat and wrapped it around my arms. The fleece warmed me up quickly, almost causing me to fall asleep.

Soon enough, we were pulling into the parking lot. I caught people staring as we exited my car, either amused or disgusted that we were coming to school in the same car and that I was wearing Natsu's jacket. I blushed, looking at my shoes. Natsu was obviously oblivious to what anyone thought of us. He was just glaring at any one who glared at us. Not only guys would glare at him, girls would glare at _me_ , too. They obviously thought he was cute or something, even though I didn't see it. Alright, I did. I don't know why guys were glaring at him. I was new; no one knew me.

We walked in an awkward silence to the locker rooms where we dropped off our sports gear. I rushed out of the locker room, hoping to beat Natsu to our home room class to avoid another awkward walk. "Uf." I looked up at the massive wall of muscle I had just ran into. Natsu.

"Oh, uh, sorry." He said, rubbing the back of his neck. His cheeks turned pink as he looked away from me. The ringing of the five minute bell filled my ears. Saved by the bell. For the first time in my life, I was happy school was starting. The hallways were loud and crowded so awkwardness wasn't much of a problem. We parted ways when we got to class. The bell was about to ring, but the teacher was no where in sight.

"Lucy?" A voice said from behind me. I turned to see Levy, smirking behind her books.

"Yeah?" She set her stuff down on the desk in front of mine. She smiled at me.

 

"Did Natsu drive you to school this morning?" My eyes widened and my cheeks reddened.

"O-I ah..."

Levy squealed. "You guys are so cute!"

I shook my head. "No it's not like that-"

"So Lucy," Erza said as she approached us. "How was dinner with Dragneel?"

Oh my god no.

"Ah-"

"You guys are so adorable I just can't!" Levy jumped up and down, obviously ecstatic about something that wasn't real.

"I didn't go on a date with Natsu last night!"

"Obviously." Erza mumbled, picking at her cuticles. "You wouldn't have had a chaperone if you had gone on a real date." Erza mumbled, picking at her nails.

Levy stopped jumping. "You had a chaperone?" I nodded my head, smiling.

"I offered to give Natsu a ride home cause we live right next to each other, then my brother invited him to dinner cause he though Natsu was my boyfriend or something. I think he still does."

Levy's eyes brightened. "You mean Natsu excepted the invitation?"

"Yeah..."

"He obviously likes you!" Levy began squealing again.

Damn, this girl was persistent. Natsu didn't like me. We hated each other, right? "No he doesn't. We're not even friends." I muttered, sitting down.

The bell rang, but no one else sat down. It was obvious to me then that the teacher was probably always late to class, so the students were just used to starting class late.

"Let's see how he acts at basketball practice today, then." Levy grinned. "If he tried to impress you, it's obvious he likes you. If not, he probably doesn't realize he likes you yet."

I raised my eyebrow. "So either way he likes me?"

Levy shrugged. "Pretty much."

Erza sat down in the seat adjacent to mine. "Did you guys want to go somewhere after practice?" She asked, opening a text book. "We could try that new smoothie place that just opened up across the street from Fairy Tail. I heard they have the best smoothies in town."

"Sounds fun! We totally should!" Levy squealed once more. "Should we invite Lisanna?"

I turned my head to look at the white haired girl. She was sitting in front of Natsu, occasionally turning to say something to him. Each time she did, they would laugh and chuckle together. Something twisted in my gut when I saw them laugh. "Are they friends?" I asked in a disgusted manner.

"Who, Lisanna and Natsu?" Levy inquired, looking at the pair. "Oh, I guess. They dated a few years ago, back in middle school. He didn't show up for our freshman year. I don't think they ever really broke up. They just never talked, even when he came back to school."

"What was with that tone just now, Lucy?" Erza asked with a chuckle. "It's like you're jealous or something."

"I-I'm not jealous!" I denied with haste. I'm sure that just made my situation worse. I wasn't jealous of Natsu. Or was I? Or was I jealous of Lisanna? Maybe I was jealous of both of them. No! I was not jealous of Natsu or Lisanna. Period.

"You were quick to deny that, though." Erza smirked at me.

"No I wasn't!" I blushed madly, so I hid my face in my hands.

"You know you guys are perfect for each other." Levy sighed dreamily.

I shot her a look. "Just yesterday you were telling me about how many fights he has gotten in!"

She rested her arms on my desk, putting her head in her hands. "But you can tame his aggressive behavior. You will make him see the light that has been crowded with darkness ever since Lisanna left his life. You shall open his heart to do great things and to stop the nonsense of fights he gets into! You can-"

"No, no I can't." I interjected. "And even if I could, why would I? I don't like him."

Levy sat up, stretching her back. "No, you do. Your feelings are just shrouded with hate, right now. I've read about this a million times."

"Well," I countered. "I'm not some generic book character. I'm not going to fall for the troublemaking hot head of the school."

"Oh, but you already have." Erza commented just before the teacher walked in, severing my ability to bicker with the girls.

 

My gaze occasionally wandered around the room, catching all the little things my classmates did. Erza snuck glances at her phone and would smile, presumably getting texts from Jellal. Levy would stare across the room at Gajeel Redfox, and he would occasionally smirk back at her. I wondered what was going on between them? Natsu surprisingly didn't goof of during class. He worked hard and took notes when the teacher was lecturing, and didn't talk to Gray _or_ Lisanna at all. Loke would stare at the girls in the room, his gaze wandering to me and Levy at times. When I caught him staring, he actually winked at me. I blushed, and looked back down at my notebook. Sometimes I would catch Max looking at...the supplies closet? Okay, this school was weird. No denying that. Maybe it was just because I was new, but I knew something was different about this school than any others I had been to. And, no, it's not the fact that everyone was rich here.

Zentopia wasn't exactly known for its education. We were known for our religious figures. We held the record for World's Largest Chruch. Not really something the children of Zentopia could thrive off of unless we wanted to become nuns. Let me tell you, the sex lives of the girls there could not be disturbed, and I'm pretty sure becoming a nun would destroy it. Sure, a lot of people there had money only because they had moved there post becoming rich, but in most cases, people with large houses and nice things who lived in Zentopia spent all of their money on those things and were still paying off their mortgage. There weren't nice private schools like this one. Most schools were as nice as your average public school. Not much you could expect from something like that.

I knew Magnolia High was different, though, or should I say, Magnolia Private High School. Everyone here had prestigious parents and images to maintain. Except maybe Natsu.

He mentioned last night that he was estranged from his family. I wonder what that meant. He didn't even carry their last name, but his Sensei, Igneel's, last name. Igneel Dragneel. My father had an interest in him, didn't he? He recognized the last name, and asked specifically about Igneel. Did Jude know something I didn't? Did he know something Natsu didn't? When Natsu mentioned his fathers name, Jude kind of freaked out. In his own way, of course. My father, Jude Heartfilia, was hardly ever caught off guard. He didn't look up from what he was concentrated on if he was talking, and let me tell you, he was never focused on his family. Except the name Etherious caused my father to look up at Natsu. Why could Natsu get my fathers attention but I couldn't?

I clenched my eyes shut and twisted my fingers around my pencil. I wouldn't let this get to me now. I couldn't tell you what I would do if anyone here caught me tearing up in class as my home room teacher droned on about the German-Italian alliance. The bell rang, appointing the end of first period.

Second period pre-calc was a drag. Natsu didn't say two words to me before class started, but I could see Levy smirking at me out of the corner of my eye. She obviously thought something was going to happen between us, even though it was NOT.

No one could tell me that math was hard. _No one_. I was so good at math, I bet I could go against Einstein in a mathletes competition and win. Alright, that might have been an exaggeration, but you catch my drift. I was not just some preppy, blonde cheerleader with cash out the wazoo. I was pretty damn smart, and no one could say differently.

And I wasn't just book smart. I actually knew when something was a good idea. I had common sense, unlike most people in Zentopia. Remember that sex drive I mentioned earlier? Yeah, well I was one of the only girls in that high school who was actually still a virgin. I saw no appeal in sex at a young age with some guy who obviously doesn't want to get to know you. He sure did want to get to know your vagina, that is. If any guy tried to hook up with me, I laughed in their face. If guys sent me dick pics, I asked what was in the picture. When they told me it was their genitalia, I would tell them, and I quote, "I thought it was your thumb," or "It's not a tick tac?" That really helped their self esteem.

Yeah, a lot of guys seemed to have the hots for me back in Zentopia. I'm pretty sure my double D's have something to do with that.Let me tell you something. When I was thirteen, a couple of fake friends and I went to Victoria's Secret. They kept telling me I was a D cup, but I did not want to except the fact I had huge boobs for my age. So when the C cup didn't fit over my organic milk organs, I almost screamed.

Anyway, I had never had a boy friend, surprisingly. It's not like I didn't want one. Okay, I really didn't. If any guys hit on me, I would just pass them on to my "friends." Not that either sides cared very much. All they wanted was sex, and I could care less about anything involving that. No, I am not a lesbian. Do not call me a lesbian. Hell, even lesbian sex counted as sex, and I still had no appeal. Maybe the right word you're looking for is asexual, but I don't really think that fits either. It's not like I don't ever want to have sex. That's not it at all. Sex was appealing, just with someone I could actually carry a damn conversation with. It's called making love, so why not do it with someone I actually loved, right?

And I am not a Mormon. My dad could care less if I had sex. He wouldn't have cared if I was thirteen when I had sex. My brother was the one to care. He always cared about my well being. My father wasn't much of a family man, even when mom was alive. But when she died, he would barely even talk to us. Yes, he said good night and stuff every night, but he was so involved in his work he wouldn't acknowledge us most of the time. Luke always cared when Jude didn't. He would pick me up from school when he could drive, he would make me dinner, he taught me how to cook, helped me with my homework, comforted me if I was upset, and was just there when I needed him.

Natsu nudged my arm, snapping me out of my gaze. "Huh- wha-" The teacher crossed her arms, waiting for a response out of me.

"Ms. Heartfilia, I know you're new here, but you still should understand basic algebra."

"I'm sorry. Could you repeat the question, please?"

She sighed. "How do you calculate a polynomial?"

"By using either the quadratic formula or a quadratic equation of ax2+bx+c=y."

"Good job. Please solve this problem." She pointed to a complex equation that was written on the board. I explained how to get the solution in a calm manner, but on the inside I was screaming. This teacher called me out on my second day. That really agitated me.

"Thank you, Lucy. Now if you would answer me the first three times I say your name next time, we won't have a problem." I flashed her one of my mastered, fake cheerleader smiles.

Natsu said nothing about my mishap, which surprised me entirely. He of all people would be counted on to make a comment. Maybe he wasn't exactly what I thought he was.

 

I sat with Erza and Levy at lunch, who seemed to have their own group. I sat surrounded by people who occasionally asked me questions about my life and interests. I was generally surprised anyone cared. This school was different than Zentopia High. Much, much different.

I watched as Natsu got up from his lonely table and walked to the direction of the choir room. Why did he like it so much in there? I nudged Levy in the side to get her attention.

"Look at that," I pointed to the pink haired boy who was about to disappear into the hall way.

"He goes off in that direction everyday," Levy replied, a curious look on her face. She shot up from the table, yanking me up with her.

"Ah! Levy!" I cried as she pulled me along with her.

"Guys! Wait!" Erza called from behind us. The sound of plastic clattering together filled the cafeteria. "Fuck..." She muttered, scrambling to help pick up the platters she knocked over. Levy giggled as she stopped by the corner of the hallway, waiting for Erza to catch up to us.

Now despite what you might think, I'm not a perfect little Barbie that is completely flaw free. Ah, hell no. I swear like a sailor on crack, I drink when I go to parties, and many other things I'd rather not get into right now. I know, Lucky Lucy Heartfilia, what was that? Dishonoring her family name? I wasn't pregnant, I hadn't gone to jail, and I wasn't a drug addict. The way I see it, I wasn't hurting anyone's pride or feeling. God that was cheesy. Anyway, the point is, I have no problem with anyone swearing.

_Why'd you get so mad when Gray and Natsu were cussing each other out, Lucy?_

Oh thanks for asking, subconscious. I don't believe anyone should be treated unequally. If you don't like someone, that's fucking great. Go have a fist fight. If you don't like someone because they're _gay_? Oh my god, there's a thing called keeping your mouth shut. Wow this one gets to me. If you think women are below men in anyway, go fucking cry yourself to sleep because no one gives a damn! Alright, don't treat each other with disrespect. That's my rule. Sure, you can swear at people and call them names, just make sure they know that you don't actually hate them. If they call you a bitch, and you're a BITCH, then just call them a bitch back. I mean, if they already think you're bitchy then what's the harm in showing them you ARE? Unless you care about what people who don't know you think of you, then go be non-bitchy. Another thing. Don't let what people say affect you. If you don't like being called a bitch, and you did nothing to be bitchy, then who cares what someone, who is probably a bitch themselves, thinks? And if someone calls you a fag, and you are in fact queer, correct them and tell them to use proper English. Alright, I've done enough ranting.

So Erza caught up with us, and we snuck around the the choir room door, the bursting sounds of a beautifully played piano ringing in our ears. No, I was not being sarcastic. The song Natsu was playing was so advanced, not even Mozart could keep up. Wait, was that Mozart? I looked through the small window in the door. Natsu had his eyes closed as his fingers sped across the keys, the tones mixing together perfectly.

"He's fucking good!" I exclaimed, letting Erza peek through the glass.

Erza gasped as she peered into the choir room. "His fingers are moving so fast!"

Levy gave us a puzzled look. "Did you not know Natsu played piano?" Erza and I literally stared daggers (all right, not literally) into Levy's face as we tried to figure out how _she_ knew Natsu played piano. "I used to read in here sometimes last year. He would play occasionally." Alright, that explained one thing, but what about...

"How come you rushed in here so quickly if you knew what he was doing?"

Levy gave me one of her evil grins. "Well, you're going to sit in there and-" She reached for the handle of the door, but the crashing from inside the room stopped her. "What-"

"You're such a nerd, Etherious." Gray hissed, grabbing the scarf Natsu wore and tugged it from Natsu's neck. Natsu's fingers stilled on the keys.

"Don't you dare call me that name."

Gray have Natsu an, obviously fake, sympathetic look. "What, Etherious?"

Erza, Levy, and I gathered around the small window, all wanting to see what was going to happen between the two.

"I said don't." Natsu's voice was a low growl, but that still didn't stop Gray. Did he have a death wish?

Gray yanked on the scarf he held in is hands. Natsu kept his eyes trained on the sheet of music in from of him. "Why? It is your name, isn't it?"

I watched Natsu's chest rise and fall. He was obviously trying to calm himself down. Didn't he mention that he practiced martial arts last night?

"No." Natsu stood up, his hands slamming down on the piano keys that were just making such beautiful noises just moments before. "He isn't my family. You of all people should know how having an estranged family feels."

"Shut up, fire-queen." Gray snapped, rubbing the scarf between his fingers.

"Why should I?" Natsu was growling again. His whole body seemed to shake as he turned toward his rival. "If you can taunt me, I can taunt you." Hell yeah, equality.

"Do you wanna fucking go?" Gray shouted, puffing his chest and throwing Natsu's scarf behind himself.

"Do you?" Natsu asked calmly. He crossed his arms.

Gray spread his arms. "Let's play, you fucking fire dragon." He thrust his arm, obviously aiming for Natsu's face.

"Oh, fuck no." Erza muttered, standing up to open the door. Suddenly, Gray was laying on the ground behind Natsu, but Natsu was standing in the same position.

 

"Both of you," Erza yelled. "Out!" Natsu calmly picked up his scarf and wrapped it around his neck.

"You-" Erza pointed to him. "Out that way." She pointed to the door Levy and I were still huddled around. We looked at each other in horror before scrambling to get up and stagger back a few steps.

"And then, oh my god it was the funniest thing!" Levy squealed, linking arms with me. What the fuck just happened?

Natsu emerged from the door. He looked between us before continuing to walk forward, brushing my shoulder as he went, causing my heart flutter. I blushed, knowing things would be awkward between us now. What would happen on the ride home? Guilt flooded my chest. I was going out with Erza and Levy after practice today. I silently cursed myself for being so inconsiderate. I peeked behind me as Levy rambled on about something that she had probably just made up. I expected Natsu to be exiting the hallway, but he was actually leaning against the wall, his scarf scrunched to his face. He appeared to have his eyes closed, and his chest was rapidly rising and falling. He won the fight, though. My wondering why he was so upset almost got the best of me before Levy jerked me around the corner.

"And I almost died because the fish really hated my hair!" Levy exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. "Alright that was fun."

I wasn't smiling.

 

The rest of the day went by really slowly. The only class I actually enjoyed in the afternoon session was my astronomy class. The stars have always fascinated me ever since my mother left me one of her telescopes when she died. I began looking at the stars every night after that. My biggest fascination was with the Zodiac Constellations. My personal sign was Cancer, which is a bit ironic, since my mother died of cancer. The Zodiac has always reminded me of her. She wanted to be an astronomer when she was an adult, but she met my dad, and couldn't pursue her dream. She was still and amateur, though. She was out in the planetarium every clear night we had in Zentopia. I'm sure that she is part of the reason that my father wants me to drop my astronomy class. I remind him too much of her. I remind myself too much of her.

I rested my head against my locker, afraid of the tears building up in my eyes spilling over my eyelashes.

"Lucy?" A cheerful voice asked from the doorway. Lisanna stood there, a concerned expression displayed across her face. "Are you alright?"

I closed my eyes and nodded, grabbing my bags and heading towards to auxiliary gym.

"Lu!" An already familiar voice taunted from behind me while I was setting my things in the bleachers.

"Levy?" I exclaimed, spinning around. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

She gave me one of her stellar grins. "Book Club was cancelled today!" She opened her arms. "So I came to watch you practice!"

Holy fucking fuck. I thought I could escape Erza and Levy at practice, now Levy would be watching Natsu to see if he would try to impress me. Did I mention _fuck_? "Cancelled? But I thought you were president of the-" My mouth was quickly covered by Levy's hand.

"Shush child." She whispered mischievously. Oh, that _bitch_!

"Alright!" A loud voice boomed from the door way. "Photo time, bitches!" No. I'm already screwed, I don't need another screwdriver.

"Erza..." I groaned. Levy smirked at me, her eyes small slits in her stupid face. "Levy what did you DO?"

"You and Natsu will be the highlight of Gajeel's next article in the schools newspaper!" She squealed, bouncing up and down.

"I have literally known Natsu one day. As a matter of fact, I've only known  _you_ for one day, too!" I rested my hands on my hips, waiting for an explanation.

"Yeah, but we have so much chemistry, Lu!" She wrapped her arm around my shoulder and spread her arm out in front of us. "I can see it now! 'Natsu and Lucy, Undeniable Love.'" Levy squealed again, moving away from me.

"Levy! I don't want to be featured in this school's gossip column!" I moaned, slouching my shoulders. Did this girl really think I was big on gossip?

"Oh, Lucy, I didn't set this up! Erza did! Well, she didn't tell me she did. Wait, she didn't tell me! I feel so betrayed right now."

"How the hell do you think I feel?"

"This is different!!"

"Lucy!" Mira waved from the auxiliary gym. "Practice is starting!"

"Well, I have to go." I hugged Levy despite my hostile attitude. "I'll see you after practice, kay?"

Levy did this weird creepy laugh that honestly had me quite concerned. "Alright, Lucy." What was I in for?

 

Practice was fairly boring after that. When Levy realized that the basketball coach, Coach Gildarts, who was also my homeroom teacher, was nearly always late to practice, she sat down and read a book.

Actually, the coach didn't show up for almost all of practice. Some of the boys got restless and began to practice on their own, except Natsu just sat in the bleachers, obviously not wanting to wear himself out. Gajeel would take pictures of our team practicing, waiting for us to form a pyramid so he could snap the perfect picture, though I could tell he wanted to take pictures of the basketball team instead. It surprised me that he wasn't one of those guys and tried to get any shot of a cheerleader with cleavage (which was pretty much all of us.)

Anyway, when the coach did show up, that's when things got interesting. The cheerleading squad actually tried to impress the basketball team, and there was something to cheer on. We formed pyramids, chanting our cheers as we wobbled, struggling to stay up. That's when Natsu got the ball. He smirked at no one in particular, but then looked my way. I tightened the grip on Lisanna's shoe as my hands became clammy. Was I nervous? Why the hell was my heart doing back flips just looking at him?

I mentally slapped myself seven times. Why seven? I really don't know, seven just seemed appropriate at the time. You know when you get really nervous, or you're really tired or something and your vision gets all blurry and you can't quite make out a lot of detail? That's how I felt right now, except it wasn't my eyes, but my ears. I could hear the chanting and yelling of my fellow cheerleaders and of the basketball team, the loud snap of a camera, but it was like I couldn't tell what they were saying. I looked over to Levy, who was silently smirking at Erza. I could tell they were communicating with their eyes in some language I had yet to learn. My heart warmed and grew cold at the same time. I realized that for once, I had real friends. Friends that tried to set me up with guys instead of trying to get me to set them up. Friends who had the same amount of money I had. Friends who actually cared about me. But then again, they had come up with some evil scheme to try and publicly set me up with someone who had almost gotten into a fight earlier that day.

Smack! My subconscious slapped me again, sorry about that.

Natsu jumped. Man, that guy could leap. I swear he's a decendent of Micheal Jordan. Or he was part bird. The ball slammed through the net of the basket with a crash. Lisanna fell, causing Bisca and I to come tumbling down along with her. I faintly remember Levy scream from the corner of the gym. Gajeel's camera clicked overtime, wanting to capture every second of what had just happened. What was so great about a slam dunk? Then I saw the glass. Natsu was buried in it. The gym went quiet. The basketball bounced slightly before it hit the back wall near the door. Natsu clung to the basketball hoop, his eyes wide with shock.

From what I saw, it looked like Natsu literally yanked the hoop off of the back board, causing the glass to shatter. No one said a word. That is, until Coach Gildarts began laughing his ass off. "Dragneel, you have no idea how many times I did that back in my day!" He cackled again, walking over to Natsu and helping him up.

Sunlight flashed through the gym, reflecting off of the broken glass that patterned the floor. "Kid, did you break the back board?" And unfamiliar voice boomed. I got out from underneath Lisanna, wondering who the man was. The voice originated from a tall man with red hair. Not ginger, or strawberry blonde, but it was red. Actually, Erza's hair color wasn't much lighter than his. Who was he?

"Well," Mira laughed as she helped a few cheerleaders to their feet. "I think practice should be over for today. See y'all tomorrow!" Various members of the squad shuffled out, avoiding the massive amounts of glass that were seemingly displayed across the gym floor. Two or three janitors made their way into the gym, sweeping up most of the glass. They ushered any remaining students and/or coaches into the commons before mopping up the floor.

I snatched up my stuff before walking out the door, Levy tagging along behind me. "He soooo likes you!" Levy squealed, resting her back against a trophy case.

"No he-"

"Lucy! Natsu!" A deep voice shouted from down the hall.

Levy did this weird laugh before she yelled, "Gajeel!"

"Oh, hey Levy." Gajeel said, stopping in front of us. Natsu and the crimson-haired man materialized beside me. "Can I take a picture of you two?" Gajeel held up his camera, tapping the "capture" button. The strange man beside Natsu chuckled, nudging Natsu in the shoulder. Natsu glared at him, moving closer to me. So this is what Levy and Erza had planned. Where was Erza, anyway? I groaned. "Let's get this over with..." Gajeel motioned for us to get closer together. Natsu glanced at the man, who had his arms crossed and was smirking as he leaned against the door leading to the gym.

Levy kicked my hip, shoving me into the pink-haired fucking idiot who stood beside me. Natsu caught me, helping me balance. "Why do you need a picture again?" I asked between gritted teeth.

"I was supposed to get a picture of a cheerleader and basketball or football player for the newspaper."

I rolled my eyes. Natsu rested a hand on the small of my back, pulling me next to him. I put my hands on my hips and flashed one of my biggest smiles. The camera clicked and flashed then clicked again. Gajeel flipped through the pictures, then nodded. He thanked us, then walked away. Levy stood up strait, and started walking after him. "You go change, Lucy. I'll wait out here." And she was gone.

I stuttered as I looked from her to Natsu. The man laughed, walking towards me and Natsu. He clapped Natsu on the back. "Easy day today, kid. No need to change. But you might wanna take a quick shower." Natsu rolled his eyes, walking toward the locker room. I followed awkwardly, catching up with him. "Who's that?"

"My Sensei." Natsu replied, not looking at me. Igneel Dragneel. Of course.

"So you don't need a ride home tonight?" Natsu stopped, turning his head to look at me.

"Why would I need a ride?" I stuttered as I answered him.

"I- uh, I thought c-cause you d-d-don't have a car th-that I might have t-to give you-"

He turned and kept walking. "I don't need your pity."

Bitch.

I sped up to match his speed as we headed toward the locker rooms. "What do you mean, 'pity?' I am trying to be a considerate human being!"

Natsu stopped again and glared at me. "I know what you're thinking." I placed my hands on my hips, waiting for an explanation. Who did this guy think he was? Natsu rolled his eyes. "I know you saw my fight with Gray."

"You think that why I was giving you a ride home?" I scoffed, looking away from him. 

"No, I don't. I think you're giving me a ride home because of what happened last night, and then that reflected on how you thought of me when you saw me and Gray fighting."

"What? Do you think I see that far into things? I was offering you a damn ride because..." Fuck. What was I even going to say. 'Because Natsu you are the love of my life please have sex with me!' Fuck no.

"Because?"

"Because I just want to make a good impression."

Natsu's expression changed. "O-oh..." Speaking of change, he was acting so much different today than he was yesterday. Maybe it was the fight he had with Gray this afternoon. I mentally smacked myself. Why did I care so much about him? He obviously could not give three and a half fucks about me. Or could he? He did comfort me last night when things got rough with my dad.

Mental slap. No fucking thinking about Natsu!! I screamed at myself as I proceeded to think about him even more. He was so considerate this morning. He actually went to my house to get my uniform _and_ car. Even if he just lived a few minutes from my house, the gesture meant a lot.

Natsu walked away. That little bitch.

I groaned as I ran to catch up with him. "What is wrong with you today?" I asked, mildly annoyed.

"Nothing is wrong with me," He told me, continuing to walk. "I'm like this everyday."

I gave him a disapproving look. "No you're not. I can tell."

He paused, turning to look at me once more. "Who are you to tell me who I am and who I am not?" I paused at this, thinking about what he had said. He was right. I had known him for one day, so who was I to tell him what he was supposed to act like? My gut twisted, knowing that he wasn't actually like this.

"You're so stubborn!" I half shouted, slamming the door to the locker rooms open.

Of course, Erza and Jellal were making out in the small hall way outside of the changing rooms. He had her pressed against the lockers, kissing her and occasionally moving to her neck. They acted as if I _wasn't_ in there.

Natsu bumped into my back. "What the-" He silenced himself once he saw the scene before him. "Uh...." We stared at the couple for a few seconds, waiting to see how long they would continue to have mouth sex while we were watching them.

"Well, this is awkward." I finally said, leaning against the door way. Erza gasped, pulling apart from her lover and staring at us. "Get out!"

I'm pretty sure that was directed at Natsu, but we both tripped over each other to get to the door, even though it was barely three feet from either of us. When we were back in the hallway, Natsu and I glanced at each other then broke into hysterical laughter.

"I can't believe that just happened," Natsu gasped between breathes. "I mean...they've never been...the most modest couple...." He took a deep breath, steadying his breathing. "But I didn't think that would ever happen."

"Wow...I don't know what to feel right now." Who would? I had just walked in on one of my only friends making out with her older boyfriend and pretended I wasn't there. I mean, it wasn't really her fault. Natsu and I were late getting to our lockers. That just made me wonder if other people had seen them having their little love fest against the lockers but were just too afraid to say anything to the two. ~~_**(A/N: hell yeah, used all three to's)**_~~

The door opened and out walked Erza. She held her head high as she walked out of that hallway, not looking at either of us. Until she looked around, look at me and asked,

"Where's Levy?"

I rolled my eyes. "Uh, she went off with Gajeel while I changed."

She looked between me and Natsu. "You sure that's all you were doing?"

My cheeks heated up faster than a Mercedes Bend accelerated. "Yes, Erza! Like you can say anything."

This time she was the one to blush. "Ugh, whatever. I'll meet you outside."

 

After I changed, I expected to see Natsu one more time. But I didn't. I tried not to feel deflated, but I couldn't help it. If I tried to deny the acrobats that performed in my heart when I was around him I would only be lying to myself. Levy and Erza obviously either knew or wanted me to have feeling for Natsu.

I shook my head, stuffing all my shit in my locker before heading outside.

Levy and Erza were chatting outside the entrance, waiting on me to come outside.

"Let's go girl!" Levy shouted, standing up strait. "Where's your car?"

I got my keys out of my purse. "Do you guys not have cars?" Magnolia High had a parking lot bigger than the school itself. Everyone had a car. Everyone. I mean, I guess it made sense. Everyone that went to this damn private school had more money than Smaug.

"Jellal usually picks me and Levy up since we live pretty close to each other." Erza answered, walking toward the parking lot. "So let's see your beautiful car I've heard so much about."

I shot her a confused look. "What do you mean you've heard a lot about my car?"

Levy giggled. "Everyone was talking about how you and Natsu came to school together this morning. You still need to tell us how that happened."

I opened my mouth to talk, then my stupid brain flooded itself with thoughts. "Shit, my car!" I shouted, running across the crowded parking lot.

I left the top open this morning when it wouldn't shut. Fuck.

I unlocked it as quickly as I could, my fingers shaking. Opening the globe compartment, I frantically searched for the small leather box I _always_ kept in my car. Just when I thought I would never see it again, and my eyes welled up with tears, my fingers brushed the rough surface of the container. Sighing in relief, I grasped the box, digging it out from the papers and various items in the glove compartment.

The clear blue orbs almost looked like eyes as they stared up at me, reminding me of my recent mother. My fingers brushed across the earrings, stopping at the ring that I recently had refitted to the current size of my finger. The onyx black diamond glinting in the sun gave me chills. It almost reminded me of a black pearl.

My mother gave me the earrings and ring when I was thirteen, just a year before she died. Now that I look back on it, she would've known that she wouldn't have been around much longer when she gave me these small remembrances of her. We were on a picnic, just the two of us. I remember wanting to go out with a few of my "friends" that day, but she insisted on me coming with her. I ended up having a lot of fun, though. More fun than I would've had with some bitchy girls and jocks who were probably making out with each other and having some weird sex thing going on. That's right, most of my "friends" in Zentopia lost their virginity in eighth fucking grade.

Anyway, near sunset, my mom told me that she couldn't breath well. When I started to get worried about her, she told me she was probably just developing a bit of asthma. I should've known better. I should've fucking known better.

We had been on a small hike that day, but when we reached the top of the small mountain and saw the beautiful waterfalls, I couldn't complain. My mother wasn't one to complain either, so she barely said anything about the growing tightness in her chest. She gave me this small box, and I barely thought anything of the diamond and sapphires. I already had a lot of jewelry. When we were heading back down the mountain, and I heard my mother gasping for air, she told me in restricted breaths that the earrings and ring had been through the first and second World Wars. Of course, being the young teen I was, I immediately wanted to put them on and show them off.

I held the gems close to my chest now, breathing deeply, the anxiety I just felt washing away.

"Lucy?" My worried friend asked from above me, resting a small hand on my back. I sighed one final time before I stood up and said, "I'm fine."

I took an inventory of my car, noting that my laptop, tablet, and quite a bit of money had been stolen. "Why would they want my stuff when they could just go out and buy their own?" I complained as i started the engine. People at this school were ri-fucking-diculous.

"I'll yell at them over the intercom tomorrow." Erza growled from the back seat.

"Erza, really," I pleaded from the behind the steering wheel. "It's alright."

"No it's fucking not." She half yelled, slamming her hand down on the seat. One thing I learned about Erza in the two days I had known her was that she was very strict and very passionate. "Those dumb kids need to know that stealing isn't fucking okay. They're all god damn rich anyway! Like you said, they could just buy their own. Whoever stole your stuff was probably getting drug money or was from another school. If they were from another school I swear to god I will hunt them down and-"

"Erza we talked about this." Levy said surprisingly.

"Yeah yeah, don't threaten to wear peoples skins. To be fair, I would've done the same with anyone from our school."

"Yeah that doesn't help." I laughed.

 

Okay, I swear Erza has always given the worst possible directions in the history of man. She told me to go right then left then right again then take half a right then a half left and go southwest for a forty-sixth of a second then U-turn and keep going until you see a pink roof, and that's where the new smoothie shop should be. Alright, I was exaggerating a bit. I love hyperboles so much I literally use them 600 times a day.

Anyway, as I was going in circles, Erza giggled at something on her phone, probably a text from Jellal, and wouldn't pay attention to anything I asked her.

"God damn-" I spun around, not paying attention to the road. "ERZA! WHERE THE FUCK DO I GO?"

"Just keep going strait we're almost there." She replied flatly, typing something into her phone and not looking at me. I groaned as I pulled the car over to the side of the road.

"No, dude, stop it's just up-" A voice said from close behind my car. And let me say, it sounded pretty sexy.

"Oh god..." Levy said, twisting her head around to see who was behind us.

"Hey girls." The sexy voice said from right behind me. And I mean RIGHT behind me.

I jerked my head to my left so quickly a blood vessel or something popped in my neck.

"Shit..." I swore, rubbing the sore part on my neck where a warm sensation was spreading beneath my skin.

"You alright there, goldilocks?" I brought my head up to look into the cornflower blue eyes that were just inches from mine. Because of this sexy strangers closeness, I jerk my head back, causing me to burst ANOTHER blood vessel.

"Fucking hell, bro...you know how to startle a girl, don't you?" I said, glaring at my opposer.

"Well I didn't mean to scare you..." He looked at me, waiting for me to give my name. I straitened my shoulders, shoving my chest out and flipping my hair behind my back.

"Lucy." I said hesitantly, twirling my hair around my fingers. This was the kind of guy that always tried to get in my pants.

To be honest, if I wasn't so against meaningless sex, he was the type of guy I would go after. His bright blonde hair blown back to rest on top of his hair was incredibly sexy. He shot me a half-innocent half-bad boy smile that made my heart melt. There was a scar cutting through his eyebrow, missing his eye by a few inches. He was wearing an orange tank top that hung off if his shoulders nicely, showing off his toned arms and part of his chest. From where I was, it looked like he was wearing a pair of expensive looking, loose blue jeans.

I looked back at who he was talking to. Honestly, I was really surprised at what I saw. Behind the blonde bad-boy was a dark haired guy, his arms crossed and his posture looked really...guarded. His hair was covering the left side of his face, a scar dipping down across his nose where it met his cheek. He wore a black leather jacket and dark blue skinny jeans that hung off his hips. And no, they were not sagging off his ass like those douche bags wear these days. Of course, Erza didn't notice we were talking to anyone but ourselves. The blonde held out his hand.

"I'm Sting. and that's Rogue." He nodded his head back to the black haired guy.

"Lucy..." Levy mumbled beside me. "Uh..."

"'Uhh...?'" She nodded to Rogue. On his jacket pocket there was a symbol that slightly resembled teeth. I squinted, looking at the familiar symbol but not remembering where I had seen it.

"Are you guys in a gang or something?"

Sting cackled, standing up strait and stretching his back. "Something like that." His muscles flexed and protruded through his tank top.

I quirked an eyebrow as I eyed him, my eyes slowly making my way back up to his face. "What do you mean by something?"

A small click came from the backseat, and Erza's head materialized beside mine. "You haven't been here long, but let's get one thing strait," She said to me, crossing her arms. Her eyes twitched up to Sting and Rogue. "The schools in our small country are _very_ competitive. We hate each other."

"What do you-" Her sharp glare silenced me like a knife.

"In Magnolia, we have the Fairies. We are the _top_ school. But that public school-" She swayed her head dramatically to give a disapproving look at the boys standing above us. "Sabertooth- thinks they can come in and ruin everything-"

"We didn't _ruin_ anything, Titania." Sting snapped, slamming his hand down on the place my windows should be. "It's not my damn fault that _my_ school is smarter than yours-"

"You guys fucking cheat!" Erza shouted, lifting herself higher in her seat.

"And you don't? You rich bastards think you can bride the school system and referees? With all your perfect lives and-"

Erza growled, hopping out of my car. Why did everyone feel the need to jump out of my damn car? "Let's get a few things strait," Her voice was low and booming, and I could tell Sting was intimidated. "1) We don't BRIBE anyone. 2) Just because we have money doesn't mean we have fucking perfect lives."

"As you say," Rogue finally spoke, stepping forward to tower over Erza. "Miss Rich-Class-President-with-the-Senior-Boyfriend Titania Erza."

Pure hatred filled my red headed friend at that moment. I could barely hear Levy's shallow breaths beside me; it was like she wasn't breathing at all.

"Get in the fucking car, Erza." I commanded, turning the key in the ignition.

"I have to-"

"Get your ass in this car."

 

I drove off, leaving Sting and Erza shout obscenities at each other from a distance. When we were too far away to hear them, Erza slumped down in her seat and sighed. I half glared at her through the rear view mirror, wondering why she had done something like that. Yell at someone I barely knew. I mean, it's not like he wouldn't have tried to get with me, but I wanted to have the satisfaction of turning him down myself.

Or turning him down at all.

I sighed as I turned the corner, driving aimlessly around with Levy and Erza occupying two seats in my car. What was I thinking? I had only known these girls two days but I acted like I had known them for years. It felt like I had.

"Lucy," Erza said quietly from the backseat. "I'm sorry for acting up back there. I just..."

"You were defending your school, no problem with that."I said not looking at her.

"Plus Sting and Rogue are president and vice-president of their school. A PUBLIC school might I add."

"I went to a public school in Zentopia."

"Well, most of the schools in our district are private. Those Sabertooths and one other school are the only ones who are public."

I thought about this for a moment, trying to wrap my head around how fucking rich this county was.

Levy checked her phone, the glow of the screen reflecting off of her pale skin. "It's almost eight guys..."

"So?" I asked, spinning the wheel and turning yet another corner.

"My curfew is 8:30."

"8:30?" I asked in surprise, trying to fathom how protective Levy's parents were.

"On weekdays. On weekends I can stay out as late as I want."

"Except she pretty much set her own curfew." Erza sighed from the backseat. "Her parents don't care how late she stays out."

"It's not my fault I get tired at nine!" Levy squealed, burying her face in her small hands.

I laughed, asking where she lived, and found my way to her house in the dim light that was still left. Erza decided to leave then as well, both of them hugging me good night. I managed to snag Levy's phone number before she practically fell asleep in my lap. Erza was already reabsorbed in her phone, so Levy just told me, with a yawn, that she would give me her number later.

As I traveled across town to my house, my thought took over, I didn't think about Sting or Rogue though. I could only think about Igneel and Natsu's father, Zeref. Did my father know them before I was born? It must be weird for Jude if his daughter was dating someone whose father had past ties with him. Maybe he had a bad past with him, and that's why Jude tensed up last night. My thoughts kept swirling around in my mind until I reached home, and even then they wouldn't stop hurling themselves at me.

"Hey, Little Sis!" Luke said from the living room, next to the stairs that lead to my bedroom. "Where have you been-"

He ceased to talk when I ignored him and traveled up the stairs. He knew I wouldn't want to talk.

My father didn't seem to be home yet, or maybe he was just ignoring me like I ignored him. I didn't give a fuck about that bastard that night though. All I wanted to know was how he was involved with both Natsu's father and his teacher. It didn't make any sense to me; Natsu's teacher didn't seem like he would have any connection with someone as prestigious as Jude. Maybe Igneel had ties with my mother somehow. College friends or something.

I walked over to my desk, opening the top drawer to pull out my laptop. Groaning, I slammed the drawer shut remembering my laptop had been stolen earlier that day.

The softness of the old blanket that I kept on my bed always surprised me when I wrapped it around my shivering shoulders. It smelled faintly of my mom, her lavender and sage scent filling my nose when I pressed the fabric to my face. My hands moved to the studs in my ears that I had placed there after I thought they had been stolen. Now, I'm not usually much of the sentimental type, but anything my mother gave to me before she died was precious to me, and if anyone tried to fuck with that then they would have hell to pay.

I opened up the internet icon on my phone, hoping to find some answers on the greatest wonder of the modern world. A few things popped up when I searched my fathers name.

**Heartfilia Konzern - Jude Heartfilia's Legacy**

**Jude Heartfilia - Wikipedia**

**Heartfilia - Lucy & Luke**

**Layla Heartfilia's Painful Death**

I scanned the articles, seeing nothing about the Dragneels or the Etherious'.

Next I searched "Zeref Etherious," and the page filled with results.

**Zeref Etherious - Wikipedia**

**Natsu Etherious - Wikipedia**

**Etherious Inc. : A Growing Business**

**What is Etherious up to? Etherious Inc. - Not all That it Seems**

The last article on the page caught my eye.

Mavis Etherious Found In Car Wreck I clicked on the page, my heart wrenching out to Natsu. His mother was dead, just like mine. I felt like I was prying somehow at his life, but then again, anyone could see this. It was on the World Wide Web.

"Mavis Etherious, wife of Zeref Etherious, was found dead this evening after she lost control of her car and swerved off the road into a nearby ditch. The late Mrs. Etherious was just blocks from her house, where her young son, Natsu Dragneel, was waiting for her. He called her at her job at Etherious Incoperated, frightened of the thunder and lightning storms that were booming around their home. It seems that this family can not catch a break. Miss Wendy Etherious, the younger sister Natsu, was hit by a drunk driver and killed almost immediately after. Now, with the family business' foreseen bankruptcy, this is the last thing the family needs."

Tears filled my eyes, wondering how Natsu got through it all. His sister had died just before his mother. His father's business, though, seemed to still be thriving based off of small bits of news I remember hearing. I searcged the page for a publication date. It was published a year ago today.

I went back to the search page and clicked on the fifth article.

 _"Page cannot be displayed._ "

God fucking dammit.

Sighing, I closed the window, opening a new one, even more curious than before.

_**Igneel Dragneel and Zeref Etherious** _

Every single motherfucking page I clicked the same message showed up.

_"This Page Has Been Remove for Security Purposes."_

My fingers sped across the keyboard so fast I could barely even tell what I was typing. Something felt wrong in my gut. My father was hiding something from me, and I was determined to find out what it was. I doubted that the editor took the pages down, so it must've been one of the three men I was trying to research.

_**Jude Heartfilia and Zeref Etherious** _

A blue link showed up as first on the page, but the rest were greyed out. My shaking fingers tapped the link. My heart dropped when I read the words displayed on the screen. " _Page is Under Investigation. We are Sorry For the Inconvenience._ "


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um....so I haven't posted in a month and I feel really bad I promise the fourth chapter will be out soon. I've been on vacation lately and I've just been procrastinating a lot but now it's summer so I have a lot of time to write so i have no excuse.   
> This chapter was supposed to be mostly Natsu's but it kinda turned into Lucy's. The next chaoter will hopefully be all Natsu's though.  
> Alright, enjoy!

Natsu

My whole fucking life had always been a disaster. You're probably thinking "Holy mother of god Natsu swears like a sailor." Yes. Yes he does, if you hadn't already noticed that. Anyway, back to my fucking life being a disaster. Most people would say, "No, you have a stable environment!" and shit like that. But the damn truth is that I don't. If you knew one thing about me, it would probably be that my father didn't give one shit about me. Ever since...ever since he decided I was responsible for my mother and sister's deaths. He thought...

Thinking about it makes me tense up inside. I can't move, I can't breathe, I can't feel. My mind freezes up and only thinks: what if I _am_ responsible for their deaths? What if _I'm_ the reason they're dead?

Today was the anniversary of my mothers death. My mind had been wandering all day, but I managed to focus - just barely - on my school work. Basketball was not something I wanted to do that day, but Igneel already told me he was going to pick me up at school. I was just so frustrated, so when i got the ball, I decided to go all out. Well, I'll actually think before I do something like that now because my rashness resulted in me breaking the backboard.

If you couldn't already tell, I was very close to Igneel. He was my best friend. I talked to him about everything, and he did the same. Despite the large age gap between us, we had a lot in common. We listened to the same music, we like the same cars, and we also liked a few other things that, for your sake, I won't mention. Besides that, I had known Igneel since I was an infant. He was my god father, and I knew Zeref had no intentions of changing that. Not that he cared. Igneel had never gotten married or had his own kids, but he had me. Sure, there were girlfriends that I never met and nights where Igneel would disappear completely, but I couldn't bring myself to mind. He was a hell of a lot better father than Zeref ever was. So, when Igneel took me back to his place that night, I didn't treat him like my dad. I treated him like my friend. My brother. My family.

I flopped down on his plush gray couch that I knew so well. It smelled slightly of cigarettes and alcohol, but I knew that was partly my fault. Igneel sat next to me, resting his head against the wall where the couch was placed. He looked over at me, then strait forward.

"You alright kid?" My breath shattered as I inhaled to speak.

"Not really." Now, if my life wasn't bad enough, tears started to well up in my eyes. I knew it was perfectly okay to cry in front of Igneel about something like this. It wasn't that I didn't want him to see me cry, though. It was that I didn't want to cry myself. I didn't like crying. What I did like, though, were things that were logical and that had a purpose. I once read in an article written by a Dutch scientist who spent 20 long years studying why we shed tears when in emotional distress, that we cry because it is a signal of helplessness - that tears were less important when we were alone because there was no one to witness them. I'm not sure I believe that.

I did cry that night, though. "I just feel like everything is my fault." I whispered, almost silently. Igneel was suddenly sitting in front of my in a matching gray chair. That man was so damn fast, I could barely comprehend it.

His hand rested on my knee. "Neither you mother or your sisters deaths were your fault, Natsu."

"If I hadn't been such a seven-year-old-ass then Wendy would still be alive." I pointed out, almost choking on my own voice.

"That wasn't your fault-"

"If I wasn't such a child then my mother wouldn't have had to leave work!" I rose my voice, anger filling my chest. "She wouldn't have died!"

"Natsu!" Igneel's hand made contact with my head. "You didn't do anything wrong!" He sighed, sitting back down in his chair. I rubbed the side of my head where he smacked me, knowing that it was what I needed.

"I just feel-"

"I know how you feel kid. I've been in the same situation." He smiled slightly at me, and man, I really needed a warm smile like that. "Sure, if you had acted differently things would have played out another way, but that's what life is. Your life wouldn't be what it is today if you changed how you acted in the past."

"I'm not sure that's a bad thing." Could you blame me? I didn't have a rainbow-sunshine-cherry-on-top life, if you couldn't tell.

"Hey, don't talk like that. You have me, don't you?" I looked up at him and smiled.

"I've always had you, Igneel." Smiling, he leaned back in his chair.

"What about the little blondie I saw back at your school? I saw how you two were talking oh-so-fondly in the hall today. What was that all about?"

I rolled my eyes. "I barely know her. She transferred to our school yesterday."

"Well, you seem to know each other well enough. What's her name?" God, I always hated it when he got like this. Anytime I talked to any girl ever he freaked out and tried to play match-maker.

"Lucy." Igneel's eyes lit up.

"Now that is a classy name. I remember some close friends of mine wanted to name their daughter Lu..." Eyebrows furrowing, Igneel sat forward in his chair. "What's her last name?"

"Heartfilia..." What was going on here? Lucy's father, did she say his name was, like, Jesus or something? Lucy's father Jamal mentioned Igneel last night and froze up when I told him my biological fathers name.

Just like Igneel was doing now.

"Man, I haven't heard that name in ages."

"What is with you guys? First Lucy's father freaks out and now-" In a flash, Igneel was towering above me.

"You met her father already? How serious are you two?"

"What?" I rose, still a few inches shorter than him. "No! Her brother invited me to dinner with them and I couldn't really say no!" I took a deep breath, looking Igneel in the eye. "What's your problem anyway?" There was a fire in Igneel's eyes that I hadn't seen for years.

"Nothing, I just-"

"Don't say that. There's obviously something. When I told Jacob, or whatever his name is, my name, he asked if I was related to you, then he totally froze up when he found out about Zeref. Now you're freaking out about it too!"

"Natsu," Igneel whispered, resting a hand on my shoulder to steady me. "I won't lie to you. You know your father and I have a history. Jude was there most of the time, as well." No shit. I had a feeling that Igneel, as he had (or should I say hadn't) many times before, wasn't going to tell me what this twisted past was. Maybe, just maybe, I thought, this time I could get through to him.

My throat tightened. "What is so bad that you can't tell me?" Igneel flinched, pulling his hand away.

"Kid, I want to tell you. I really do. More than anything, but I just can't." His breath shattered, and I could tell he was thinking about his past. "I can't."

 

The rest of the night was a blur. I think I started training with a punching bag later on that night, but I can't be sure. I had so much anger inside if me it was like the Devil himself had possessed me and was filling me with rage. I'm sure Igneel and I watched a movie that night or something, but the next day, it was like my entire memory of that day had been erased. I couldn't remember how I acted at school, what I learned, who I talked to. I did remember completely destroying the backboard on the basketball hoop, though. I also remembered why I felt the need to do that, not including my mother or sisters death. So when I was at school the next day, I couldn't just sit in my seat before first period. The sun was actually out that Friday in November, so I decided to go outside and enjoy the morning air.

Lucy

"Lu!" That was the first thing I heard when I entered the school and got tackled to the ground.

"Ugh...Levy...." How could someone so small be so strong? "Levy, we are in public and I am wearing a skirt. Please get off me."

She giggled as she pulled herself up, grabbing my hand and helping me up as well. "Guess who I just saw go outside?" I wiggled my eyebrows.

"Gaaaaajeel?" Levy's smiled dropped from her face as she slapped my arm.

"No! It was your pink haired basketball friend!" She sung as she half skipped away, jumping onto a startled Erza who was a by her locker. I looked out the nearby glass door, admiring the golden leaves that were still on the trees.

What the hell? I'll go outside. Not for Natsu, if that's what you're thinking. Alright it was for Natsu. I couldn't stand the thought that we left things so loose yesterday. Yeah, I had only known the guy for for two fucking days, but that wasn't going to stop me from trying to become friends with him. Especially what I read about his mom yesterday.

I pushed open the door, pulling the crisp morning air into my lungs as I walked out to the gardens that lie by the track. There was a cute little bench between two cherry trees, and sitting on the left side, his hands behind his head with his eyes closed, was Natsu.

"Hey Natsu," I said awkwardly as I sat down about six inches away from him. His eyes shot open and he straitened himself, turning to look at me.

"Yo, Heartfilia! What up?" His mood was so much different from yesterday. I was taken aback at the lightness in his tone, the light in his eyes.

I twisted the black diamond ring around my finger like I always did when I was nervous or anxious. "Eh, nothing much. Erza, Levy, and I were going to go to that new smoothie place, but Erza wouldn't pay attention to me and-"

"Well, Erza gives really shitty directions anyway. One time she told me to go left for three quarters of a block then take a right. To my right was a building. I would've ran into a fucking bank. Anyway, go on." I laughed at his story, continuing mine.

"So I stop the car and wait for Erza to finished texting when these two guys come up from behind us, right? These guys start talking to us when Levy points out that they are from Sabertooth!" Natsu's mouth hung open.

"Was it Sting and Rogue?"

I nodded. "And Sting was SO checking me out. It was unreal."

Natsu stared at me wide eyed."He has a girlfriend!"

This time my mouth hung open."He's strait?"

That set Natsu off. He laughed for a good 30 seconds before he let me continue my story.

"Okay, so then Erza realized who we're talking to and gets in an argument with Sting about how Fairies are so much better than Sabers and I had to make her sit the fuck down so I could drive away without having blood splattered on my seats!"

"Well, that is Erza for you. On her tomb will say: Erza Fernades, Loving Wife, Horrible Sense of Direction, and Got in an Argument With Anyone She Could."

"Fernades, huh?" Natsu shrugged, rolling his eyes.

"We all know they're going to last quite a long time."

"Based on what we saw yesterday, I can second that." He shuttered, scooting closer to me.

"That was really disturbing. That slurping haunts my dreams."

"What haunts my dreams is getting crushed to death by Lisanna as you fucking destroyed the backboard." Natsu smirked at that, leaning back into his arms, which were behind his head. My heart sunk as I thought about Natsu's attitude yesterday. He was so cold and...mean. I recognized that it was because of his mother, but I wasn't sure why that sadness hadn't stuck with him today.

"Hey, what was up with you yesterday anyway?" Natsu's smiled diminished.

He looked forward, slumping down in his place. "Just...family issues."

I apologized for bringing the issue up, and we continued to talk about Sting and Rogue. But after I brought o his mom, Natsu seemed quieter and kept to himself. He didn't try to start another conversation when we finished ours, so we sat in an awkward, yet oddly comfortable silence until the five minute bell rang a few minutes later, where I proceeded to stand up and wait for Natsu to follow. When he didn't, I asked him if he was going to walk to class with me. He shrugged and said, "I'll be there in a few."

He didn't show up for first period that day. Or second. Or third. I sat at my desk, my eyes continuously wandering to where the boy with pink hair should be. I constantly caught Gray and Loke looking in my direction, whispering and occasionally snickering. They were obviously talking about Natsu not me, but I glared at them and shot them the bird before turning my attention back to the lecturing teachers, anyway. I couldn't help but feel that I was the reason that Natsu was skipping class. Even yesterday, on the anniversary of his mothers death, he didn't skip class. I always skip on the anniversary of my mom's death. I felt as if I had intruded on some intimate area of his life, a place where he let no one see. It was like a locked room, deep in his heart where no one could reach, and the door sealed by a lock and the key had been tossed inside.

It's not like I could blame him for being hostile; I had a room like that as well.

During lunch break, I scanned the crowd for Natsu's pink hair, but I wasn't so lucky as to find it. Levy pulled me to her table, where Erza sat beside me. "Sooooo," Levy cooed, resting her hand in her palm. "What happened this morning with a certain Dragneel?" I raised my eyebrows at her, opening a bag of chips.

"Uh, we talked about Sting and Rogue for a while before the bell rang."

"I noticed he wasn't in first period." Erza said.

Levy clicked her tongue. "You two weren't off doing anything, right?" My eyes widened at her.

"I have first period with you! I sat behind you!" Levy giggled.

"Just making sure." Her smile disappeared, and she scanned the room before looking at me again. "Why do you think he wasn't in class today?"

I knew exactly why. I brought up the issue of his dead mother and he froze up. I didn't blame him. I do that same thing when someone brings up my- "I touched on a sore topic."

Erza nodded. "About his mom, right?"

I stuttered. "Um, yeah it was really dumb of me to bring up but I wasn't thinking-"

"Lucy!" A new voice joined our conversation. We looked up in unison to see Lisanna standing in front of us. She eyed Levy and Erza before turning her questionable smile towards me. She nodded her head toward the choir room. "Can I talk to you for a second Lucy?"

I shot a panicked glance at Levy, who shrugged with wide eyes. Erza nodded at me, so I stood up and Lisanna led me to the choir room. I half expected Natsu to be making the piano keys smoke, but the room was empty, and Lisanna and I were alone.

"Uh, so did you need help with Pre-Calc or something-" I started as I leaned against the piano.

"No, I need help with you." I gave her a puzzled look.

"What do you-"

"You're the reason Natsu wasn't in class today." My eyes widened and I stood up strait.

"What? I mean, I might have touched in a bad topic but I'm not the-"

"Yes you are." Her eyes were full of fury. She looked at me with pure hatred and anger that I almost collapsed in on myself. "He can't stand to look at you. Maybe you should take a hint."

"What are you taking about? I'm friends with Natsu!"

"You may be, but he's not friends with you." Lisanna scoffed as she rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "He wouldn't be 'friends' with the desperate blonde that you are."

I almost choked.

"What are you talking about? I have no romantic interest in anyone, let alone Natsu." My chest filled with hot anger as I approached her. "Maybe before you start making judgments on people, you should actually get to fucking know them and stop being a bitch about everything."

Lisanna glared at me as she stood at least three inches below me. "I have known Natsu for as long as I can remember."

"And you, along with everyone else here, has known me for three days. Plus I've only talked to you like twice!"

She huffed, clenching her fists by her sides. "Just back off, alright!"

I crossed my arms, my left leg supporting me. "I will do as I please, Lisanna. I have no reason to 'back off.'"

Lisanna growled. "Whatever! He's not interested in you!" With that she turned and stormed out of the choir room.

I stood there in shock, replaying what had just happened in my head over and over again. Lisanna defiantly liked Natsu. What was her problem? It's not like I actually like- My heart fluttered as I thought about him. It was a feeling I had never felt before, and to be honest, I wasn't sure if I liked it. I couldn't control what was happening. Also, I was a goddamned teenager. Love, if that what this was, is not a convenient thing at a young age. Something that mature should form when people are...mature. Most people, especially boys, are not mature at 16. All they think about is sex, and I was not in the market for that. I know I've said this before, but sex never interested me in the slightest. Like, maybe when I'm married some day I'll have sex, but right now when I look at an attractive guy my ovaries don't explode. And no, it's not like I don't find people attractive. There's a difference between not wanting sex and not wanting romance.

I didn't go back to lunch that day. I texted Levy saying Lisanna took me off campus and we walked around for a bit and I would be back in time for 5th period, which I was.

I didn't have astronomy with anyone else I knew. It was one of the only classes I didn't dread. Learning about what stars were made of and gravity fields and asteroids wasn't so bad. It was something I wanted to learn about, not something I already knew. I knew my father hated that I took the class. It reminded him how much of my mom I had in me. "Astronomy doesn't lead anywhere," He would tell me. "It's a dead end hobby."

He didn't want to give me my mothers collection of telescopes when she passed. He wanted to keep them locked away in a place where they would never gaze upon the stars. But it was stated in a legal document that they would be passed on to me. I had been so pleased when I received them. They reminded me so deeply of the late nights I had spent with my mom staring at the patterns in the sky. Having them made me feel like a part of her was still with me looking at the stars that she loved so very much.

Gym had never been my favorite subject, but at least I had last period with Levy. "Hey, what did Lisanna want today at lunch?" She asked as she bumped a volley ball my way.

Setting the ball back to her I said, "Oh she just asked if I knew why Natsu wasn't in class. We talked a little more after I told her that I didn't know where he was." It was partially the truth.

Levy made a weird face. "She's weird. I don't know why she's so obsessed with Natsu."She caught the ball and tucked it under her arm. "This is boring. Let's go walk around the gardens." I hesitantly followed her to the volley ball crate next to the door.

Some of the guys were shooting hoops in the auxiliary gym, the main basketball hoop in the main gym still missing from Natsu's incident yesterday.

"Are you sure we won't get in trouble?" Levy laughed, motioning around us after she threw the volley ball, which bounced off the crate and rolled into the commons through the open gym door.

"The teacher is barely ever here and when Coach Gildarts subs he doesn't come either. So we're basically on our own." She shrugged. "Not that I'm complaining. Come on!" She tugged me toward the door leading to the schools student-planted rose beds.

"So explain to me Lisanna and Natsu's relationships one more time." I said as we walked along the small trails.

Levy sighed. "I don't even know what it is now, but back in like, eighth grade they had one of those middle school relationships where they would go over to each other's houses and probably make out." My insides squirmed at the thought. "They've known each other for a long time, though. The Straaus's and the Etherious' have been business ally' since..." Her sentence broke off.

"What is Etherious Industries anyway?" Levy tensed.

"Uh, there was a scandal that happened a while ago with Zeref Etherious, Igneel Dragneel and some other business man. I was only like 6 when it happened so I don't remember it very well. Everyone here in Magnolia has some unspoken agreement to not talk about it, so I don't know very much about it."

I nodded. "I tried looking it up but all the pages were under investigation or something. That reminds me, I need to get a new laptop. You should come with me after cheerleading today."

Levy nodded vigorously. "Sounds fun! Oh hey, Erza wanted me to ask you if you wanted to partake in a little tradition the two of us have." I quirked an eyebrow up.

"Oh?" She smirked.

"Every Friday we raid Erza's huge-ass closet and go dancing in Fairy Tail's extension club." I laughed for a few seconds, thinking about how lame clubbing was in Zentopia. All my so called "friends" would ditch me at the bar and let me get drunk by myself while guys came up and hit on me.

"Just don't let those douche bags that leech onto me. I have had quite enough of that in my life." Levy chuckled, stepping over a fallen limb.

"With those knockers I don't think I'll be able to keep 'em away. But Erza will be with us, so I'm sure she'll scare everyone away. Oh my gosh one time-" The five minute bell rang, indicating the end of sixth period. Levy groaned, v-lining toward the gym door. "I'll tell you later. I have to get to book club and give everyone the new books I've been lugging around all day. See you tonight Lu!"

I laughed at Levy's girly run as she sprinted away from me. I took my time walking back to the school, and didn't get back until about 3:10.

"Please don't be making out, please don't be making out, please don't- Yes!" I whispered to myself as I opened the door to the hall way outside the locker rooms. A sight like the one I saw yesterday was not one I would like to ever see again.

As I put my locker combination in, a felt paper crinkling beneath my Nike. I rolled my eyes, thinking someone had left a chip bag on the ground. But as I grabbed my stuff and shifted my feet, I realized that it wasn't a wrapper, but a note. I picked it up, expecting to see some gossip from a couple of freshmen.

Written across the from of the folded paper was one word written in really bad print: " **LUCY** " I raised my eyebrows, setting my things back in my locker to read the note. " _Lucy, meet me in the gardens at 3:30. There are things we need to talk about. -Natsu._ " Natsu. I looked down at my cropped yoga pants and navy blue gym shirt, thinking that if Natsu and I talked fast enough, I could make it back to cheer practice with a lame excuse to why I was late.

 

Natsu was sitting at the same bench as this morning at 3:25. He was probably there before that, but 3:25 was the time I was changed and had my hair fixed into a pony tail on the side of my head.

"Hey Stranger." I said, sitting next to him.

He didn't say anything as he looked at me, examining my school uniform and book-bag. "Aren't you going to practice?"

"I am, but I can change later." I began to reach out to him, but pulled back before my hand was to far up in the air. "What did you need to talk to me about?"

Natsu sighed, leaning his head on the back of the bench. "I don't know...there's something weird going on in this town."

"Tell me about it," I agreed, imitating his motions. "I tried googling what Jude did before he had his current business and every page I went to was under investigation." Natsu nodded closing his eyes before they shot open and he sat up strait, turning his body toward mine.

"That's another thing! Igneel said he hadn't seen you around and I told him your name and he tensed up just like your dad did at dinner the other day!" I furrowed my eyebrows at this, also turning my body toward Natsu.

"Levy said there was a scandal involving your dad and Igneel, but no one talks about it. Do you know anything about it?" Natsu thought for a moment before shaking his head. "My parents were barely ever home from ages 4-7. They were probably trying to hide this scandal or whatever from me and my sister."

I nodded. "I lived in a nearby town until I was 6 when we moved to Zentopia. I've never heard anything about this Scandal. It's really freaking me out."

Natsu sighed. "How are we gonna find out? I mean, if no one talks about it and all the sites are blocked-"

"I could look through my dad's files sometime. He'll probably have a news article on it or something. I could also ask Luke to look through work computers to see if there's anything documented." Realization struck me just them. "Natsu..."

"Hmm?" He turned his head toward me, running his long fingers through his perfectly messy hair. I shook my head. He couldn't keep distracting me like that.

"Levy said there was another businessman involved in the incident. Do you think..."

"It was your dad?" Natsu asked pointedly. It almost wasn't a question. I nodded. Natsu shrugged. "It probably was. I mean, Igneel said he knew your dad and your dad knew Igneel and Zeref. I wouldn't be surprised he was. No offense."

"None taken." I sighed. "I always knew there was something he was hiding from me."

"Well, my dad doesn't talk to me so I'm not surprised." I chuckled.

"You're not surprised by anything, are you?" My thoughts wandered to this morning when I brought up the topic of his mom.

He took out his phone and held it out to me. "Can I have your number so we can keep in touch?"

I took his phone hesitantly. "Uh, yeah sure." I set up my contact information in his phone then called myself so I wouldn't have to give my phone up. When I handed him his phone, he stood up and was about to walk away before I grabbed his wrist.

"Wait," He looked back at me with a questioning look. "It's just- Why weren't you in class today?"

He tensed, looking away from me. "It's nothing."

"Was it because I mentioned your mom?" Natsu shrugged.

"I guess." I tugged on his wrist, willing him to look at me with no luck.

"Hey, I know what it's like."

He yanked his hand away. "No you don't. You have no idea."

An undeniable pain formed in my heart when he said those words. My throat choked up without my permission and unwanted tears filled my eyes. Natsu's face became filled with regret. "I-I have to go." I said, picking up my book bag and walking at an unreasonable pace back to the school.

"Lucy wait-"

I walked faster, checking the time on my phone. It was only 3:43 now. I could make it to practice just 15 minutes late. Not too bad. Natsu's footsteps nearing, I opened the door to the lockers and rushed in.

The door didn't shut.

"Lucy I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that-"

"It's fine. I need to go to practice." Natsu scoffed from behind me as my shaky hands tried to open my gym locker.

"You can skip one day."

"It's my third day. I can't skip."

Then he was in front of me. He pushed me against the wall, his hands finding my wrists, pinning them to the cold surface. His head hung low on his neck, his breath shattering.

"What are you doing?" I whispered, my voice refusing to raise in volume.

"My sister..." Natsu said, his voice sounding like he'd been coughing for weeks. "She was hit by a car when she was three. I was seven."

A strangled noise escaped my mouth. "I'm so sorry Nats-"

"I felt so guilty. It was my fault. My mom told me it was no ones fault but the divers. He was drunk or high or...I don't know." He looked up trying to tears from escaping from his eyes, no doubt. He stood up strait, just inches from me. I looked up at him, waiting for him to continue his heart wrenching story. "My mom told me to pray. So I did. I prayed to go back in time and change everything like the kid I was." He let out a small chuckle, his face not matching his voice. "Now that I think back on it, it was really stupid to ask for that. I should've asked for compensation or for that stupid fucking scandal not to happen. But I didn't." His inhaled. "I asked my mom why god wasn't answering my prayers. She cupped my cheek," His hand moved from its loose position on my wrist to lightly touch my right cheek. "And said, 'Baby, god always answers our prayers," his hand slid down my neck and arm, tracing small patterns in my skin, clasping my wrist once again. "'But rarely is it the answer we're looking for.'" I watched the tears form in his eyes and felt my own roll down my cheeks. He sniffed, looking away from me. "The next day she was dead."

He turned away from me, releasing my wrists from his grasp, his back facing me.

"Natsu..." I moved forward to touch his arm. I hesitated before wrapping my arms around his torso, unable to think of another way to comfort him. It was awkward at first, but Natsu lifted his hand to caress mine and it just felt...right. I rested my head against his back, listening to the beat of his heart.

After a few minutes, Natsu slowly turned around, resting his hands on my waist and pulling me to him, burying his face in the crook of my neck. My heart beat double time as I felt Natsu's warm breath tickle my neck. My arms slid under his and held his back in an intimate position against my chest. I listened to his breath slow from its previous pace back to a normal one as I closed my eyes and relaxed against Natsu's chest. We stayed there for what felt like hours, not saying anything.

When he finally lifted his head, I thought he would say something about how he needed to leave, but I expected wrong. His eyelids hung low, coving the better half of his eyes as he looked at my face, his eyes resting on my lips. My heart slowed, but picked up speed when Natsu's head bent down, just inches from mine. His eyes closed as he pressed his forehead against mine, our noses barely touching. He waited there for a minute before he closed the distance between us, sealing our lips.

I gasped just before it happened, apparently unaware of what was happening until it was.

Natsu Drangeel was kissing me. 

It started out a light kiss, innocent with closed lips. But Natsu deepened it, pressing his lips firmly against mine. I can't say I didn't enjoy it. His strong arms gripped my waist and pushed me up off the ground, his chest pressing to mine. My arms slid around his neck as I tilted my head to indulge myself in more of the kiss. Heart beating faster than it even had, I raked my fingers through Natsu's hair and wrapped my legs around his waist. His head pushed back on mine, pushing me into the wall harder.

His lips were soft. I couldn't help but think about the way he looked when he smiled. He should've smile more often. The same lips that made those beautiful smiles were against mine. He wanted them to be there. It wasn't just me being paranoid about being clingy, or having a one sided relationship.

What would this lead to? Levy said he liked me, but I didn't think she was right. I thought it was just one of those things that friends did. Pair you with a guy that they knew you liked. The kissed slowed, and Natsu slowly let me slid down the wall. I unwrapped my legs from his waist still kissing him, my eyes closed. When we parted, our foreheads brushed as we heaved for air after our art-making. Suddenly, all warmth left my skin, and when I opened my eyes, Natsu was gone.

Levy found me in the locker room a few minutes later. Or maybe it was a few hours. I wasn't quite sure. Everything was such a blur. I couldn't keep my mind off of a certain someone. He kissed me. Don't get me wrong, that wasn't my first kiss. I had been kissed plenty of times before, but it never meant anything. I wasn't sure this meant anything, but it was something. A start.

"Earth to Lucy!" I looked up and found Levy snapping her fingers in front of my face. The same face where Natsu was just minutes before-

Mental slap! I cringed away from my own subconscious and looked up at Levy. Somehow, I ended up on the floor, my legs stretched out as if I were giving birth. I stood up quickly, standing a few inches from my bluenette friend.

"Hey, sorry. Are we leaving?" Levy nodded, giving me a skeptical look. "I tried calling you but you didn't answer your phone. Are you alright?" I nodded enthusiastically, unable to keep a goofy grin off of my face.

"Yeah! I don't know what I was doing on the floor. Just daydreaming I guess." Levy shrugged.

"It's fine. I just thought I should come check to see if you were alright. You ready to go but a laptop before be go-" She hip bumped me. "Clubbin'?!"

At Best Buy, the guy at the counter flirted with me, wrote his number on the laptop box, flirted with me again, asked me out, and got shot down as I left the building. Levy giggled as I hid my new computer under my seat.

"That guy was really desperate." I nodded, sitting up in my chair and starting the car.

"He was like 23 though. Fucking perverts."

Levy had to tell me six times how to get to Erza's house, and she had to tell me what it looked like at least twelve. When I finally pulled into her driveway, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Jellal's car was not there. "He's been kicked out on multiple occasions by yours truly for getting in the way of our tradition." I giggled at the image of petite little Levy pushing Jellal out of his girlfriends house.

Levy pushed through the giant doors, and I was honestly amazed by the beauty of my friends house. The floor was tiled with smooth, black stone. The walls were painted a light gray color, making the entryway glow with sophistication. Levy pulled me forward. Black furniture lined the living room, centered around a very large- also black- flatscreen TV. Levy pulled me through the rest of the house quickly, shoving me into a nearby bedroom.

Erza's room was, by no surprise, painted black, but the furniture was blindingly white. White bedposts, white blankets, white desk, white computer, white carpet. Erza's blindingly scarlet hair contrasted nicely against the color, but her navy blue uniform that she still wore blended into the walls. She looked up from her phone and threw it to the side of her bed, which lay in the middle of the room- unlike mine which was stationed to the side.

"Lucy!!!!!" She squealed with too much enthusiasm. She hopped off the bed and hugged me, jumping up and down. "I'm so excited to go out tonighttttt!"

I smiled and looked at Levy with my eyebrows raised, but she just smiled at the two of us. When Erza released me, she walked over to a door and opened it, revealing a HUGE walk-in closet. Levy squealed and skipped over to it, disappearing in the rows and rows of clothes. I sat on Erza's bed, waiting for someone to invite me into the closet.

"Lucy, come here." Erza said from within the dragons lair. She held two articles of clothing in her hand, holding them out for me to take. "You'd look good in this. Go try it on."

I looked around, looking for a dressing room. Erza saw the confusion on my face and laughed.

"Just go hide in some clothes if you feel that uncomfortable."

I laughed as I walked behind a rack of clothes, suddenly thinking that Erza and Jellal could've done the nasty in here and I wouldn't know.

I quickly put on the outfit Erza handed me and looked in a nearby mirror. It was a skin tight, black, latex tube top that covered the better half of my breasts and ended a few inches below my rib cage, showing off my stomach. The, again, black latex skirt covered my ass, but not much after that. What kind of club was this?

I walked out of the closet to find Erza sitting on her bed wearing a red and black, again, latex dress that showed off her cleavage. Thin straps crisscrossed the backside of the dress and clipped onto the front. She wore midcalf boots and fish netted stockings along with a guarded belt. These outfits seemed more like lingerie than clubbing clothes.

"This isn't like, a BDSM club right?" I asked my red headed friend as I sat next to her.

Erza chuckled. "Hell no. It just gets pretty wild. Levy and I learned that we couldn't wear regular clubbing clothes after our first night there."

I opened my mouth to say something but Levy burst from the closet with a black, quite old fashion looking corset in her hand.

"This looks like it'll fit me!" She exclaimed before she ran back into the closet. I laughed and looked at Erza.

"How do any of your clothes fit her?"

"I buy her extra clothes so she doesn't feel left out." She whispered with a small giggle. Whoa. Erza never giggled.

Then, a small thud erupted in from of us, causing us to look forward. Levy stood there, the black corset tied tightly, causing her small breasts to almost spill over the leather. She wore black, might I add short, leather shorts, and like Erza, fishnets. Her feet were strapped into a pair of leather pumps that were painful to look at.

"Wow," I said, looking at the exotic outfit my blue-haired friend was wearing.

Erza smirked, raising an eyebrow. "Make-up time?"

 

We all wore variations of a smokey eye that night. Erza's was by for the most exotic, fore she wore deep red eyeliner that complimented her dress as well as her hair. Levy and I only wore black, though my _eyeshadow_ was more blue. Levy let me straiten her hair, and it looked really fucking good, but she insisted on tying it back with a leather strip into its usual style. Who am I kidding, it still looked really fucking good. Erza's hair was pulled into a tight pony tail near the top of her head, making her look much older than she really was. My hair stayed down in curls. It was 7:45 by the time we were finished getting ready.

"Alright," Erza said, checking the time on her phone. "We can get there in about 35 minutes so we'll be at Fairy Tail at...8:20!"

Levy clapped. "Earlier than we usually are! Great, let's get going."

As we walked out the door, Erza paused. "One last thing." She emerged from her closet carrying a pair of, probably latex strappy heels. "Put these on."

 

Erza drove a red mustang, the same color as my car. I fiddled with the ring on my finger as we drove, making small conversation along the way. The sun had set hours before we left the house, winter growing close. The days grew shorter and shorter.

_There will be a day where the sun doesn't rise._ I would think every year around that time.

My mother used to tell me stories of how Natives used to sacrifice a young girl to their God of Sun every day out of fear that if they didn't, the sun would cease to rise. I often thought about how I would react if that were me being sacrificed, but I don't think that's something that could be imagined.

Or should be imagined.

The club was bustling with people by the time we reached it at, as Erza said, 8:20. We stood in line for 16 minutes before the bouncer spotted us. He invited us up to the front of the line and carded us.

Shit.

I reached into my bag and pulled out the fake ID Michelle had given to me back in Zentopia, checking the picture to see if it looked even the slightest bit like me. It still did, even though I really needed to get it updated.

The bouncer barely looked over my card, didn't even have to look at Erza's, but seriously studied Levy's. She picked at her nails, waiting to be let it. "I come here every week." She said, getting annoyed after about 30 seconds of waiting.

"You just look real damn young." The man said, turning around to examine the card closer.

"I come here every week. Where's the usual guy?"

"Ig only works here during the summer. He just left last week." Ig? What kind of name is that?

The bouncer handed Levy back her card, which she snatched from his giant hands and stormed sassily into the club. Erza and I chuckled to each other as we followed. Music pounded beneath my feet as Erza and I walked in the door. My bones shook.

People surrounded us at every angle as we made out way through, my feet already spiking with pain. When we found a clearing, the three of us danced and laughed like tomorrow didn't exist. And technically it didn't. Yet.

"I'm going to get some drinks!" I yelled at Levy what felt like 20 minutes later. She shot me a strange look.

"What?"

"I'm going to get some drinks!" I shouted again. She shook her head.

"I'M GOING TO GET SOME DRINKS!"

"Ohh! Okay!" I read her lips since the fucking music was so loud.

I weaved my way through the crowd. Drunk people slung themselves over each other, a few grinding or kissing against walls. I rolled my eyes, trying to find the bar from where Levy and Erza were. I spotted Erza quickly and scanned the room for the glowing lights against glass. Great. It was all the way across the club. My skin felt bare as people brushed against me, making me crawl with unfamiliarity. I looked down at my skimpy outfit. Barely 15% of my skin was covered. I wished I had a jacket or something to cover my arms and vulnerable stomach.

Someone grabbed my arm. I turned to glare, but found Sting's eyes and sweet smile looking back at me.

"Oh!" I said, though he probably couldn't hear me.

He smiled brightly, spinning me around like a ballerina. I smiled, playing along. We dance for a few minutes, losing ourselves in the music. Sting spun me again, my back facing his chest. He placed his hands on my hips, but I didn't seem to notice. I raised my arms above my head, enjoying the freedom I felt.

Then I felt his groin against my backside. I stiffened, remembering something Natsu told me earlier that day. I spun facing the blond haired fool.

"Don't you have a girlfriend?" I asked, hoping he could hear me. He smiled, shaking his head and pulling me toward him once more.

I shoved him away. "YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!"

He frowned this time, his arms going limp by his sides.

"SHE'LL NEVER KNOW!" He shouted back.

I shook my head, pointing in the direction of the bar. "I have to get drinks!" I could almost hear Sting groan as I turned my back toward him.

Another hand grappled my arm.

"Hey-"

"Have you heard of the Four Roses?" I could barely hear the man who spoke. I shook my head.

He held out a business card. "Ever thought about becoming a stripper?" He said, louder this time.

I gave him a weird look, shaking my head. He smiled. "You'd be good at it!" I shook my head again.

"I'm 17!" Well, I was seventeen in 9 months. Technically, if you count the time I spent in my mothers uterus, I _was_ 17.

The mans face went slack, and he said something and stumbled away. I shook my head as I laughed to myself, continuing to make my way to the bar. I ordered three beers, hoping that's what the girls liked.

I sat at the bar as I waiting for the bartender to pour my drinks, but he didn't. He attended to customers with only one drink before he attended to me.

I sighed, looking to my side to spot any perverts that tried to come my way, and there he was. Natsu sat in the seat next to me, swirling a glass of vodka around. "Natsu?" I said. The music was quieter over here so I didn't have to speak so loud.

He turned his head slowly, smiling as he saw me. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Lucky Lucy Heartfilia!" His face didn't match the tone in his voice. He sounded sluggish and slurred. His voice had an evil twinge to it. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here with..." Then I realized I didn't have to answer him. He probably already forgot what he asked me. "What are _you_ doing here?"

He scoffed, taking a drunken sip of his drink. "You put me here."

"How the hell did I put you here?"

He slammed his drink down on the counter, making me jump at the muffled sound it made. "You make me _think_ , Heartfilia." He scowled at me. "You make me want to go to school in the morning. You make me want to...You make me think about my past and I hate it!" He slammed the glass on the counter again, causing the remaining vodka to fly out of its container. Natsu turned toward me. "You cause me to..."

His sentence broke off, as if he had forgotten what he was going to say. His eyes focused on my lips. I didn't have time to think before he lunged toward me and pressed his lips to mine. I melted into the kiss, my previous thoughts floating away as his mouth moved against mine. One of his hands was placed on my seat, touching my thigh. The other was gripping the countertop beside me.

Remembering where we were, I pushed him back into his seat.

He growled. "Now you don't even want me."

I held out my hand. "Give me your phone."

Natsu rolled his eyes, reaching into his pocket to pull out a sleek, black object. I grabbed it, searching his contacts to find the one I was looking for. I pressed Igneel's name and pressed the Samsung to my ear.

"Hello?" A groggy voice said from the other end of the line.

"Um...hi. This is Lucy Heartfilia."

Igneel groaned. "If you needed to ask me something about Natsu it could've waiting until tomorrow." I peeled the phone away from my ear. It was 11:35. Had we already been here for 3 hours?

"Sorry to wake you. It's just," I glanced at the pissed off idiot next to me. "Natsu is at the Fairy Tail extension club and he's really drunk. He's starting to get violent."

Igneel groaned again. "Okay. I'll be right there." The call ended and I handed Natsu back his phone.

He didn't say anything to me as I waited for Igneel. I simply paid for my drinks, chugged a beer, asked for a vodka, paid for that, and drank half of it before Igneel showed up. I was guessing either traffic was really bad or he lived out of town. Maybe both.

He barely looked at me as he slung Natsu's arm over his neck. Natsu protested, saying he hadn't had anything to drink. Igneel cooed at him, and began to walk away when he turned back to me. "Thanks for calling." I nodded, picking up my drink and chugging it.

When I found my way back to Levy and Erza, they took the drinks and kept dancing, so I danced with them, but a smile did not play across my lips. I danced to leave time for a few hours, that's all.

By the time we left the club, it was already 3:40, Erza and I had to practically carry Levy to the car, but I wasn't tired at all. The night felt like it had only been an hour or two. I was out of my mind.

When I danced that night, after Natsu left, I didn't dance because it made me feel good or because my shoes made my feet comfortable. I danced to forget my worries. My mother, my father, my horrible life in Zentopia. Natsu...I made him drink himself into an intoxicated state where he didn't know right from wrong, left from right, good from bad. It was me.

No, I didn't dance because I wanted to. I danced because in that moment, I no longer felt the urge to live.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH!!! This chapter is really short guys. I didn't really feel like I could fit the fifth chapter in very well, which will be posted tomorrow on NaLu week day 4: Smoke. I'm really excited for these next couple chapters because we're really getting into some fun stuff! NaLu is love, NaLu is life.   
> Alright, enjoy!

_Natsu_

Igneel pulled me into my house after a silent car ride back from the club after my drunken outbreak.

"Come on, kid." Igneel pleaded as he dragged me into my dark bedroom. "I have work tomorrow." He only worked a few days out of the week, but with his job, that's all he had to work to stay out of debt with all of his bills paid.

I pulled the covers over my shoulders, my head already pounding. I had had a glass of water between each drink, but with the amount of alcohol I consumed I knew I would still have a bit of a hangover the next day. Igneel left mumbling something about how I better be grateful for him, which I was.

Wendy's dark blew hair blew in my hair as I chased after her. She smiled so brightly back at me, my heart hurt to think about. My mother, a small woman with light blonde, long hair held her arms out and my sister and I ran into them, cherishing her embrace. Sun shone down on us, shimmering off my mothers beautiful golden threads. She had rather pale skin considering the amount of time she spent with me and Wendy outside. Wendy was just a small thing. Only three years old at the time. Her big eyes would look up at me and her mouth would form a loving smile that I never appreciated. Neither of us inherited my parents traits, expect I had my fathers eyes. Dark, onyx spheres that took up most of the space of my visible eye. Layers and layers of dark blues, greens, and browns that I never noticed until my mother took a note on them, and never cared until after she was gone.

I shot upright in my bed the next day, my heart pounding in my chest. I had a slight head ache from the night before, but nothing to serious. My shower was one of my favorite parts about my house. The tub was large and the pressure was always the same. The handle to turn the water on was a different one from the lever I used to change the temperature, which meant I could find one I liked and I would never have to try to find it again. I stood there, washing the smells of lasts night club off. My breath still hitched when my hands ran over the faint scars this tracing my back.

My thoughts wandered, trying to figure out exactly what happened last night. Flashes of light blurred across my vision, hot, sweaty bodies pushing against each other in the mix. I saw Lucy. She was smiling, her hands above her head. Then I saw Sting, that bastard, running his filthy hands all over her body. Rage bubbled in my chest just thinking about it. They danced for the longest time, too. I'm sure that was the time I got drunk, cause I don't remember much after that. Worst of all, I don't even remember why I went to the club, and I wasn't even drunk when I left the house.

When I got out of the shower, I put on some basketball shorts and a tank, walking out to the kitchen to get some breakfast. I scanned the pantry. It was scattered with various items, breakfast food not among them. The same thing with the fridge, except there was a bit of coffee creamer in the corner. Coffee. I set up the instant coffee machine and waited for the water to heat up. My mind was still on the LucySting subject when shuffling came from the back of the house.

Fuck.

I tried not the look at the hallway as I picked the coffee cup up and brought it over to the island.

"What the hell are you doing here?" A groggy voice said from behind me.

"I live here." I replied, grabbing the creamer from the fridge. When I turned, I flicked my eyes up at Zeref, not wanting to stare for to long. His work clothes were wrinkled; he must've slept in them. Oh. That's why I went to the club last night. My father was coming home, and I couldn't bare to look at him.

"Pour me some of that shit." I scoffed, continuing to pour my own coffee.

"Get it yourself." It was probably really dumb to say that, but I couldn't be bothered. I hated the thought of getting anything for the bastard if I could help it.

I quickly finished preparing my drink and locked myself in my bedroom, making sure he couldn't get in. I picked up my phone and contemplated pulling Igneel from work so he could come pick me up, but then thought that he probably couldn't even pick up the phone. He already had to haul my ass back here last night. I scrolled through my contacts to see if anyone else wouldn't ask questions as to why I was asking them to pick me up. I could call Lisanna. She would understand. Why the fuck did I even have Gray's number in my phone? Then I landed on Lucy's name. She probably wouldn't ask questions under normal circumstances. I left things so horribly yesterday I was sure she'd be pissed if I asked her to speed away from my house no questions asked.

I dropped my phone on my bed and sighed. I could just wait until Zeref left. He usually wasn't home for more than a day or two at a time. But I was starting to get hungry, and needed to go to the store to buy some food. Digging through the box I kept under my bed, I pulled out two 100 dollar bills and shoved them in my pockets. I didn't have access to my fathers bank accounts, and it was obvious that he wouldn't pay for groceries, so I paid for them myself. So if you were wondering, that's the reason I don't have a car. Because my dad won't fucking buy me one on his one million dollar budget. I usually borrowed one of Igneel's cars to go shopping, but I couldn't call him and his place was too far to walk to. I groaned. Maybe I would have to call Lucy. It wouldn't be suspicious if I just asked her to take to the store, though.

I peeked out the door of my room to see if Zeref was still in the kitchen or living room, but it seemed as if he had gone back to his room, probably to sleep. I opened Lucy's contact and a picture of her face showed up along with her phone number. I didn't know she took a picture. She smiled at the camera, lighting up the gray skies behind her. I smiled slightly at her, still wondering how she had taken a picture without me noticing. I set my phone down on the island, walking over to the landline and picking up the notepad that was lying next to the phone.

I scanned the fridge and pantry, making a list of things I needed to buy. Now, I didn't shop very often, but when I did, I made sure I had everything. I made my way deep into the large pantry and made a note of everything we had and didn't have. Looking over the list of boxed foods and ingredients, I emerged from the pantry. He stood there, holding my phone, examining the contents of the screen.

"Heartfilia..." I heard him mumble as I froze before him. He looked up at me and it looked as if there were tears in his eyes. "Lucy Heartfilia?" Instead of responding, I dropped the notepad on the floor. If Igneel had freaked out so much when he heard Lucy's name, I couldn't imagine how Zeref would react. I didn't want to know. "Lucy," Zeref repeated, more demanding this time. "Heartfilia?!" He slammed my phone down on the counter, taking a step toward me. I winced at the crack, sure my phone screen had been shattered. "You got the hots for a Heartfilia?" He smacked my head. Hard. Harder than Igneel ever had.

I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say. I had gone over these situations again and again in my head, but not once did I ever think my father would be upset because I had a girls contact in my phone. "You fucking brat," Zeref said, coming closer to me. "You used to like Lisanna. What happened to that?" He towered over me now, and I could smell the alcohol on his breath. "You were supposed to be with her!" He swung his hand, swiping the few glasses that I hadn't put away yet onto the floor, shattering them. I stayed silent, backing up a bit while Zeref's back was turned. He turned towards me again, his face hot with anger, his eyes small and pointed at me. His hands shuffled around his waist band, and he pulled his thin, leather belt from its place on his waist. He tugged the leather, walking closer to me. My heartbeat sped up and my throat closed and tears formed in my eyes.

I couldn't think, I couldn't breath, I couldn't feel.

I didn't want to.

I cowered, my back pressed against the pantry door, hyperventilating as my father drew closer. He was like a prowling lion, waiting for his pray to stray from its pack. I had strayed, and now I was trapped. Zeref raised his arm and whisper, "It's your fault." He didn't bring the belt down right away, but I closed my eyes and ceased to breath anyway. "It's all your fault!" He screamed, swinging the belt down at me. It slashed across my arms, stinging them, causing white marks to form. I held in my whimpers and he brought the leather strip down again and again, whipping my legs and feet and torso, even hitting my face a few times. "It's your fault they're dead!" He would scream. "You're the reason she's not here!"

He kicked me so I faced away from him, and I winced as I sensed him raising the belt above his head. He slashed it across my back, penetrating the thin material of the tank top I wore. "You killed them!" He screamed as he brought the belt down again and again, even after my back started bleeding. "It was you! You did this! You caused-" He brought the whip like belt down again, slicing my back open where he had already hit me. The pain was excruciating.

After a while, I screeched in pain as he kicked and whipped me. I collapsed in a puddle of my own blood after a few minutes, but Zeref wouldn't let up. He kept telling me that I killed my sister and mother, that it was my own fault that this was happening to me. They say that if you hear something enough, that you start to believe it, and I think I started to believe what my father was telling me. I didn't want to, but I did.

After minutes of screeching, I couldn't bring myself to scream anymore. My voice was raw from using it so much, and the pain wasn't even bad anymore. My back had become numb a while ago, the whip now just a tingling sensation on my skin. I don't remember losing consciousness, but the sound of a car revving it's engine awoke me.

I could barely move, let alone walk, so I just stayed there, my blood keeping me warm. Soon enough, I made my way to my bathroom, staring at my tear-stained face. I took off my shirt, examining the bright red, overlapping strips that decorated my skin. Tear welled in my eyes, thinking of how well I had escaped these beatings for years. I wept silently over my sink, my knuckles turning white as I gripped the white edges. I looked up at myself, my face almost as pink as my hair. Bloodshot eyes stared back at me in anger, the muscles in my shoulders flexing out of rage.

I stalked out of the bathroom and painfully bent down to pull the box out from under my bed. It was only a shoe box, but that didn't matter. It held the things that I didn't want Zeref, or anyone, to know I had. I picked up the picture of my mother and my sister, touching their faces with the tips of my fingers. I set it aside before picking up the lighter and pack of cigarettes.

The pack was fairly new, and only two of them had been smoked. I pulled one from its place, standing up, sliding the box of cigarettes into my pocket, where it crunched against the crisp bills. I sat on the piano bench in the living room, lighting the cigarette, placing the lighter on the table beside the piano. I took a drag, pulling the nicotine into my lungs, my mind relaxing. My lungs filled with smoke, releasing the drug into my body. I released it slowly, watching the room fill with smoke. I took another long drag, half of the cigarette already gone, puffing it out in one breath this time. Each time I took a drag, my mind would relax even further, urging me to take another one, so I did. When I reached the end of the first one, I pulled out the pack and lit another up. I smoked four cigarettes, telling myself I would stop after one more each time I grabbed a new one. I just wanted to get high, obviously, to release stress and pain from my life, and I wasn't going to let anyone stop me.

Until _she_ came in.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was supposed to be posted like a month ago. I suck at updating. Anyway, enjoy!

_Lucy_

My morning had gone as well as Gollum finding the ring. Well, I guess he got the ring in the end, so that was a really bad...simile? I think that was right. I mean, a metaphor is just a figure of speech right? I mean, I hadn't said I was Gollum trying to find the ring. Okay, wow. That was a really bad example. You get my point. I had a splitting headache the next day, a text from Levy saying that she want to convert to Christianity because they don't allow drunkards, a voicemail left by Erza telling me that she had a student council meeting that day and that she was blaming me for her hangover.

I laughed, then stopped because it hurt my head to laugh. I smiled though. I had friends. I was still wearing the skimpy outfit I wore to Fairy Tail last night and did not feel like pulling the extremely tight latex off of my body.

I groaned as I sat up, trying to tame my frizzy hair before getting up, putting on my robe, and walking downstairs. Luke was making coffee in the kitchen closest to the stair case that led to my room.

"Morning little sis." He said, not looking at me as he fixed his coffee. "What'll it be...oh." He laughed as he looked over me. I glared, walking over to the couch in the living room. "What did you even do last night?" He asked, walking into the room and siting down in front of me in a stool that he pulled over.

I blushed. "I uh, went to a club with some friends."

"You have friends?" He laughed again before taking a sip of his coffee. "Speaking of, what's up with you and that Natsu guy?" My heart twisted just hearing his name. "I mean, you brought him over here the first day of school and haven't mentioned him once." He cleared his throat, irritating my head. I pressed two fingers to my temple, trying to make my brain not feel like someone had a screwdriver in it. He laughed once more, getting up and returning with a glass of water and an aspirin tablet.

"Here," he said as he held them out to me. "This'll help." He disappeared into the kitchen again after I popped the pill into my mouth. He reappeared with a two pans. What the- "Now I can't let you go unpunished. I mean, you did break a law." All the fluffyness of the mention of Natsu disappeared when I realized what my brother was doing.

"Luke don't you dare-" He banged the pans together continuously, smiling like the evil bastard he was the entire time. I groaned, standing up and walking up the stairs. He stopped clashing the pans. "I'm sorry Luce, comeback." I gave him a skeptical look before turning back around, forgetting my water. "What's this?" Luke said, picking up a rectangular piece of paper as I chugged the rest of the glass.

"Hmm?" I looked over at him, plopping down on the couch before realizing that that might not have been best for my fucking migraine.

"What's the Four Roses- wha-"

Fuck.

He looked up at me, his mouth ajar. "What the hell, Lucy?" He looked at the card and up at me again. "What damn club did you go to last night?"

I rolled my eyes. "I didn't go to a strip club. Some guy gave me that saying I should be a stripper. Pedo." It was Luke's turn to roll his eyes this time. "He thought you were at least 21, idiot. That's why you don't use fake IDs in high school." "Like you didn't." I scoffed. "Yeah, well no one's going to ask me to be a stripper. What were you wearing- or worse- not wearing last night?" I blushed, pulling open my robe to reveal my revealing clothes. "Where the fuck did you even get clothes like that?" He said eyeing me before I tied my robe again.

"I told you, my friend."

"Is this a real friend or a fake one like the bitches in Zentopia." Now you know where I get my dirty mouth.

"Yes, they're real friends." I rolled my eyes, smiling a little.

"Speaking of, you never told me about Natsu." I shrugged, not wanting to get back on this topic.

"We haven't done anything else since a few days ago." I lied, thinking about yesterday in the hallway.

"You're _so_ lying," Luke called me out. Damn, he knew me well.

"No I'm not." I lied again. "Where's dad?"

Luke chuckled. "He said yesterday that he had to go in tomorrow to arrange something. So I'm guessing he's at work. But that's good cause you'd so be grounded if he saw you." I rolled my eyes, once again.

"It's not like he would care."

"True." Faint shouts drifted into our house, but we didn't acknowledge them at first. But they didn't stop.

"God, our neighbors are loud." Luke mumbled as he sipped his coffee. I nodded, standing up and making my way to the staisr.

"I'm going to get ready and go for a run. Let's do something later, though."

"Kay," Luke said, shuffling around in the kitchen.

 

My mother-fucking boobs always spilled over the top of my sports bra when I put it on. If I bought a bigger bra, they magically decided to grow bigger. I groaned, putting on a pair of track shorts before I dealt with the beast on my head. Erza had sprayed so much hair spray in it last night I was sure it would ever look the same again. Taking a shower would just be a waste if I was going for a run where afterward I would be a sweaty mess. I tugged on the chunks of hair before tying it up half-brushed.

Fits of yells and screams erupted from a nearby house. I glared at the window as if it had something to do with the screams. They subsided after a few minutes, and I pulled my nike running shoes on, about to leave. All I needed was my-

My head began to hurt again but for a completely different reason. I almost collapsed in place as I realized why there were sudden screams of agony and rage coming from our neighbors house. Natsu had said he was estranged from his father. His father must be home for the weekend, and Natsu's mother died almost exactly ten years before. His father would have to be mad...at Natsu.

Natsu.

"Shit!" I yelled, scrambling down the steps, almost tripping over my running shoes. "Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit!"

"Where's the fire, lil'-"

I looked at Luke, panic clear across my face. "Fuck!" I pushed through the kitchen door and out the nearest exit. I fucking sprinted down that shades road as fast as I could, but Natsu's house was at least a quarter mile away from mine. I was about half way there when a slick, black Dodge Charger sped past me. I stopped to look after it, almost disgusted by how fast the driver was going. I brushed it off, running the rest of the way to Natsu's house. The first time I was there, it was dark as hell and I was delirious from crying. The next morning I felt no better, so when I encountered a driveway as long as 16 busses, I was a little surprised.

The screaming had stopped by the time I was there, and for the first time, I actually thought this through. What if Natsu's dad was still there and I got caught in the crossfire or he just got even more mad? I took a shaky breath as I approached the house, not bothering to knock before I entered. The first thing I noticed was the smoke. Did Zeref light the fucking house on fire?

"Natsu?" I called, not expecting a response. I walked around the kitchen island to the hallway where I knew Natsu's room was located. Blood. There was blood every where. It was splattered on the fridge and pantry doors, on the floor, and it trailed to the wood floors of the right hallway. I gasped as I followed the blood, but didn't get far. I turned my head, looking into the living room on my left. He was sitting there, cigarette dangling from his mouth. "Natsu?" I asked again, entering the room. "Natsu what is all-"

"Why do you always interrupt me?" He pulled the cigarette from his mouth. He shook his head apologetically. "Sorry I shouldn't have snapped I just-"

"Stop," I said, approaching him and crouching in front on the bench he sat on. "Don't apologize." I looked at the cigarette butts that decorated the floor. "Why are you smoking?"

He held the pack out, smiling. "You want one?" I shrugged, pulling one from the box. He reached out, lighting it, his pinky brushing against my cheek. I stood up and say beside him, taking a drag from my cigarette.

"What happened, Natsu?" He shrugged, wincing as he did so. I scanned his body- not that way you pervs- noticing the red welts forming on his arms and legs. His stomach was almost clear of marks besides the lashes curling over his ribs. "Natsu," I said firmly. "Tell me what-" Tears formed in his eyes and he made this noise, I can't quite explain it. It made my heart wrench out of place. He curled his hands into fists and rested his elbows on his knees, shoving the heels of his palms into his eyes.

"I don't know why he did this..." He whispered. "He hasn't done this in so long and just I thought he was done..."

I didn't know what to say. My breath shattered as I reached out to him before pulling away, realizing that I would probably hurt him even more. His back was lined with bleeding, overlapping welts that almost looked like a whip had slashed him multiple times. My hand found my mouth, trying to muffle the gasp that escaped my mouth. "Who did this to you?" I asked, though I was almost certain that I didn't need to ask.

"You know who." I wanted to hug him in that moment. I wanted to huh him and cuddle him and tell him that everything would be alright and that I'd try to make sure this didn't happen and that I'd be there for him every step of the way. But I couldn't. There were so many reasons why I couldn't do what I wanted but I'll only name one: I met the guy three days ago. I couldn't act like I knew his entire life story after I met him on Wednesday. Though I _did_ know more about him than I knew about any of the friends I met. Levy was into books, Erza was into...I'm not quite sure, probably torture, Loke was into girls, Juvia liked swimming, Gajeel liked photography and the school newspaper and I think Levy mentioned something about metal shop, Gray liked Ice Sculpting I think, Lisanna liked hating on me, and Mira Jane liked bossing people around (in a nice way.) I knew what people liked doing and interesting facts about them, but I knew that Natsu liked piano, martial arts, and basket ball. I knew he was estranged from his abusive father and that his mother and sister had died when he was young. I knew he didn't like talking about either of them and I knew that he had really soft lips. I couldn't help but realize that he didn't know nearly that much about me, so I told him, "Did you know I play guitar?" He shot me a sad smile as he lifted his head from his hands.

"Really?"

I nodded. "And I don't really like cheerleading. It's something just that consumes my time." He smiled again. "Same here." I raised my eyebrows. "Really? You're so good it though!"

He laughed a little bit. "Well I've never tried cheerleading and I don't think I'd be good. You have incorrect sources." I smiled, reaching out to shove him before I remembered the sores on his body.

"You know what I mean!" He smiled again, looking down at his knees. "My mom's dead too." I said out of the blue. I was actually surprised that I said that and immediately wished the words hadn't have left my mouth. "She died of cancer." I added, stupidly. Why did I keep saying careless things? The only thing Natsu said was, "I'm sorry." I fiddled with the ring on my finger, remembering her just a little bit more. She was what I thought of a lot recently, and I couldn't help but blame it on the move. It's not like I didn't like thinking about my mom, I just didn't like having and empty void in my heart.

I took a drag from my cigarette. "She didn't like living in Zentopia. She said she wished she could live in Magnolia County. I lived here until I was 6, then my dad made us move show no reason. My mom and him fought for days on end before he told us we were moving, but after that they didn't fight for years." Natsu took a long drag from his cigarette, looking at me. He seemed interested. I was just hoping to get his mind off of Zeref. "She was into astronomy. That's why I'm taking that class. My dad doesn't like it because it reminds him of her. I remind him of her." I looked at the empty fireplace in the haze of the smoke, not wanting to think about my dad. "She would also read me these stories that weren't very popular when I was younger. They weren't really meant for kids, but I always enjoyed them. I like creative writing as well. I was really mad when I realized that they didn't have a class option here."

"I thought you said your schedule didn't change when you transferred here." Natsu inquired, taking another drag.

 

"I didn't want my dad to get upset. Plus Luke always teases me about it." I finished up my cigarette, looking at Natsu. "Where do I-"

"Just throw it on the floor." So I did.

I stood up, wiping the ashes off of my hands on my bare legs. "Do you have any rubbing alcohol or-"

"What the hell are you wearing?" Natsu laughed weakly. I glared at him playfully.

"I was about to go for a run and Erza put so much damn product in my hair last night I couldn't get it all out and really didn't feel like taking a show because I was gonna get all sweaty anyway and I hate taking two showers in one day-"

"That was the longest sentence in history." Natsu grinned at me, chucking his cigarette butt on the living room floor. His smiled faded as he scanned my legs, my stomach, my chest. "Come here," he whispered, finally meeting my eyes. I don't know what came over me, but I actually walked toward him. It's not like I wanted to. I personally hated the guy. God, it was so hard to try and keep that act up because everyone knew it was a lie. I so could never hate Natsu Dragneel, even if my life depended on it.

Natsu didn't get up when I approached him. I stood in front of him for a few seconds, with him looking up at me with his onyx black puppy dog eyes. He rested his arms on my hips, spreading his legs so mine were pressed against his chest. He pressed his cheek to my bare stomach, breathing in the smoke and sweat.

Books and movies romanticize teen boys to much. Natsu wasn't the super toned like everyone expects from boys like Natsu. He had a nice chest, but he wasn't a rock hard athlete. His stomach was pretty much flat with the exception of lightly defined abs that creased his skin. I wasn't sure what to do with my hands when Natsu hugged me, so I just rested them on his arms, hoping I wasn't applying too much pressure. He looked up at me again after a few minutes and I noticed the small cuts and welts on his face. I reached up to touch them, but he flinched away before I had the chance. I wanted to get Natsu cleaned up, but I didn't want to rush him. It's not like I was complaining. I liked his hugging my waist like this, not giving a care in the world about our encounters from yesterday. He tugged me closer to him, urging me down into his lap. I shot him a worried look. He loosened his grip. "I-i-if you don't want to you don't have to-" I almost slapped him.

"No dummy, I just don't want to hurt you." He shrugged, pulling me down into his lap anyway. I giggled, wrapping my arms around his neck. He tilted his head up at me, kissing my jaw. I angled my head so our foreheads were touching, breathing his the smell of him. He closed the gap between us, kissing me for the third time in two days. To be fair, I kissed him back. He tasted like smoke and sweat with a lingering taste of nicotine in his mouth and I'm sure that's what I tasted like as well. We didn't kiss for very long. It was just a few seconds, maybe a minute. When we parted, I rested my forehead against his again, taking a breath. "What are we doing?" I asked.

"What we want..." He said, trailing kisses along my neck.

I scoffed. "You do what you want anyway."

He tilted his head. "True."

"Uragh," was something like the noise I made as I stood up and walked toward the kitchen. "I need to get you cleaned up before that gets infected."

Natsu groaned, standing up to follow me.

I don't know why I looked in the refrigerator for a first aid kit, but I did. For some reason. I was hungry okay? Don't judge me. "You have literally no food. How are you even alive?"

Natsu rolled his eyes. "I was making a shopping list before that asshole came back." The air grew silent as I shut the door, walking back to Natsu's room.

"What a dick."

There was rubbing alcohol and bandages under the sink in Natsu's bathroom.

"Come here," I said, making my way over to his bed, repeating what he had said just minutes before. I sat down, and he came up in front of me, brushing my cheek his his fingers. My heart fluttered. "Turn the fuck around." I said, twirling my finger. He did as I said reluctantly. I brought the cloth up to his back, hesitating before I dabbed it onto the shallow wounds that embellished his back. His back arced as I did so and he made a groaning noise. After a few minutes he stopped having a reaction. When I finished cleaning his wounds, I unrolled the bandages and started wrapping them around his torso.

"I don't usually do..." I said, breaking the silence. "This." He looked back at me with a small smirk on his face.

"What, clean peoples wounds?"

"No, idiot." I stopped wrapping the bandages. "What we did in the living room." He turned towards me, grasping my bandage filled hands.

"It wasn't so bad..." I pulled away, grabbing a pair of scissors. "That's not what I said," I snipped the bandage, tucking the loose end into the wrap on his stomach and crossing it over his shoulder. I looked up at him when I was finished. "I just..." I tied the ends of the white cloth before looking up at him again. "I don't date guys." I stood up, meeting his eyes.

He smiled a little, grabbing my hands again. "What do you do, date girls?" That time I did smack his arm, but he didn't show any pain.

"I'm not gay, Natsu!" I smiled, tilting my head to have a good look at him. He was a little taller than I was, two or three inches. "I just don't date."

The smiled remained on his face, his eyelids drooping low. "We don't have to, if that's what you want." He kissed my cheek, but nothing else. He smiled down at me. "I want to show you something," He let go of my hands. "But we have to drive to get there."

I rolled my eyes, a smile plastered on my face. "You know, we should probably go shopping before we do anything else."

"Fine, we'll go shopping, put the groceries away, then I wanna show you something." I couldn't keep the smile from my face. The mood had changed so quickly, and I wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

"Can I use your shower? I don't want to be home for very long cause my brother will probably ask questions." He nodded, pulling a shirt from the drawer. "Go ahead."

After my shower, which, by the way, took 35 minutes because I could not get my hair to cooperate, I put my running clothes back on, and entered Natsu's room again. He wasn't there, so I assumed he must be in the living room or something.

And he was. He had opened all the windows and the smoke was slowly disappearing from the house. I helped him pick up the cigarette butts that still lingered on the floor. I smiled at Natsu before I walked out the door, grasping his arm, one foot outside. "I'll be right back, okay?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes mother."

I smiled bigger, surprising myself by standing on my tiptoes and kissing him quickly on the lips. Even he looked surprised.

I ran down the road, the nicotine still in my blood stream, high on ecstasy from kissing. I was still smiling when I reached my house and ran up the stairs to change.

I put on a pair of boot cut jeans, vans, and a white and navy stripped t-shirt. I let my hair hang wet around my shoulders knowing it would dry in waves. I grinned to myself before I left my room to find Luke waiting at the door.

"Whatcha doing there sis?" He said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Isn't that like, your fifth cup?"

He smiled, lifting the cup to his mouth. "Seventh, thank you very much." His smiled faded. "We still exploring town today?"

"Oh...sorry some...things came up."

He wiggled his eyebrows. "Natsu things?" I smacked his arm.

"No!" He raised an eyebrow. "Okay yes but not like that."

"Riiiiight."

I rolled my eyes. "Tomorrow, I promise."

Luke shrugged, a smug look on his face. "I'm down."

I smiled, hugging him quickly before turning the corner and running down the stairs. "Don't get pregnant!" He called from the second floor before I left the house.

I pulled my car out of the driveway, actually excited about what the day would bring.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....hi.   
>  First off, I am so incredibly sorry I haven't updated in like, eight months. I lost motivation to edit and write so I just kind of abondonded this. I AM SO SORRY THOUGH. I'll start to aim for once a month if you guys want quality chapters, if not I can give you guys lik 2k words per chapter but I did like writing those long ass chapters before.   
> Anyway, enjoy?

Lucy

I pulled up to Natsu's driveway to find him waiting for me outside. I didn't blame him. I mean, I wouldn't want to make someone wait for me to get my ass out to their car cause they were taking me shopping, but also I wouldn't want to be in...that sort of environment. His house I mean. I couldn't stand being in the house if my father and I had just had a fight, and I couldn't imagine how Natsu must be feeling. The cigarettes he smoked must've relieved some of his anxiety about the subject I guess, but...  
He hopped over the door and into the passengers side before I had a chance to tell him to actually use the damn door. I pressed the button and the top began closing us into the car, even though it wasn't that cold.   
"I shouldn't even keep this down with you around..." I muttered, glancing at him before pulling out of his driveway.   
"Come on, you know you love it." He smiled at me.   
"Oh, I do, huh?" I retorted, returning his smile.   
We talked with ease as we drove through the trees to get to town. Conversation flowed naturally between us. It was light, like the first day I had met him. All the stuff with him mom probably threw him off, I knew, and it was nice getting to know him this way.   
"How'd that hair even happen?"   
"Ah, this stuff?" Natsu ran his fingers through his hair. We had just entered town. "Last year Gray said that my hair didn't fit me, so I dyed it, he shut up, and I just kept it. It looks good on me." He smirked. "Plus it's a good conversation starter."  
"What is up with everyone in this town and dying their hair?" I asked with a laugh, turning the corner.   
"We are a crazy town full of crazy people."  
"Got that right."   
We drove on in a comfortable silence as I looked at my GPS to see how far this damn grocery store was. A few blocks away, we passed a gym. I had seen it earlier with Erza and Levy trying to find that smoothie shop, and kept meaning to look it up.   
"What the hell kind of a name is 'Fairy Gym?'"   
"Fairy Gym?" Natsu repeated, giving me a strange look. "It's the Fairy Tail gym; best trainers around."  
"What the fuck is up with Fairy Tail? They own everything!"   
"We're actually going to the Fairy Tail Grocery store right now." He shrugged, a smug look on his face. "What can I say? They are the best."  
I pulled up to the store, parking my car in the nearly empty lot and Natsu and I walked to the entrance. He actually used the door; for once.   
He pulled the list from the pocket of his shorts, his eyes scanning the list before loosely grabbing my arm and pulling me to the isles.   
"Alright alright," he mumbled, pulling countless ingredients off the shelves and placing them into his cart. I followed along, trying to mentally keep track of all the food and spices he was grabbing. He really looked like he knew what he was doing. He did grab some snacks, like chips and crackers.   
"Quick, Coke or Pepsi?" He asked as we came to a halt.   
"Uhm, Pepsi?"   
He smiled, grabbing a six pack and placing it in the cart. "Good choice, Pepsi is better."  
"I know right?"   
We talked casually for a few more minutes before subtly went back to picking out different foods and ingredients.  
I watched his face as he chose between two spices, his eye brows knitting together as he weighed them in his hands. The fluorescent lights shone off his hair and face, illuminating the scratches and welts on his cheeks and arms. My stomach twisted at the sight of them.   
When he put one of the spices in his cart, I grabbed his arm and tugged his to the other side of the store.   
"What are you..." He mumbled, staggering behind me. "Luce, I have to finish with my list-"   
"This is more important than that right now."  
He said nothing as I pulled him into the makeup isle and over to the foundation. He stiffened when he realized why he needed it. I gave him a sympathetic look as I approached the shelves filled with different shades of liquid makeup. I held up multiple shades to his face (he looked extremely uncomfortable the entire time) but none of the quite matched his skin tone.   
"Damn son," I said, picking up an even darker shade of foundation. "You are dark!"  
"I get that a lot," he said, smirking.   
"Alright," I said, clasping the bottle in my hand. "I'll go pay for this while you go finish your shopping or whatever."  
"That 'or whatever' part may take long than you expect!" He called, walking the opposite direction of me. Smiling, I made my way to the express lane. 

"Come on, Natsu," I groaned, shifting my position to where I sat in the cart. "We've been here for like and hour!"   
He chuckled, placing even more items in the cart around me. "Hey, I only go shopping once every, like, two months."   
I groaned again, resting my head on the corner of the cart.   
"Did you never go to the store with your mom when you were a kid?"  
"No! My mom didn't go to the store!"   
Natsu clicked his tongue. "That's right, I forgot; you have more money than God."  
"Very true," I replied, picking up a bottle of spices. "When the hell would you ever need 'Spike?'"   
"Have you never had roasted potatoes?" 

After I climbed out of the cart, with much struggle, I sauntered to the other side of the isle where Natsu asked me to pick up some crushed peanuts, you know, like the ones you get on chocolate sundays. There was a rack of chips next to the peanut section, so of course I asked Natsu if he wanted any.   
"What?" He yelled, his voice probably traveling through the entire store.   
"Do you want any chips?" I asked again, raising my voice just barely so he could hear.   
There was a pause before he yelled back, "I'M ALWAYS A SLUT FOR DORITOS!"   
I cringed at the volume of his voice and glared at soccer mom who was giving me a nasty look from across the isle. I laughed at the puzzled look on Natsu's face as I place the chips in the cart. 

I picked up a magazine while we waited to check out. I clicked my tongue as I looked through all of he celebrity gossip, wondering what the hell was wrong with the world, especially Kim Kardashian.   
"Why do you read that stuff anyway? It's just a bunch of fakers being fake." Natsu commented from behind me. I slapped his chest with the back of my hand, continuing to read the tabloid. He grabbed my hand, rubbing it between his, looking over my shoulder and reading along with me.   
"I thought it was just a bunch of fakers being fake." I smirked, looking at him over my shoulder. He smiled back.   
"It is, but people like it."  
"By people you mean you."  
"And you."  
"But mainly you."  
"Next please," a small voice said from in front of us. An old woman was our cashier. She looked about 68, which isn't really that old, but she sure did look old. Now, that sounds mean, but it was the truth. She was small. Like, really small. She scanned our items with long boney fingers, delicately placing them in grocery bags.   
Natsu didn't let go of my hand while she scanned our items, and I couldn't say that I minded. It was nice having him so close to me, especially after what happened to him this morning. My mind was still trying to comprehend how someone could physically beat their own child. I wasn't educated on that horrible section of society, and no tabloid could help me understand it.   
The woman looked up at us when she was about finished scanning all of Natsu's spices and ingredients, and smiled. "Are you newly weds?" She asked, finishing up.   
I opened my mouth to say something, but she kept going. "You do look pretty young, but usually people who are dating don't but groceries together." She kept smiling at us, tapping something on the screen. "Um, that'll be $247.56."   
Natsu's face went slack as he felt around in his pocket. He either lost his money or didn't have enough.   
"Oh, babe," I said, digging around in my bag for my wallet. "I think I have the credit cards." I pulled the black one out, handing it to the cashier. Natsu shot be a grateful look, clasping my hand tighter.   
The cashier looked surprised, but she took the card, swiping it across the panel, waiting for me to put in my pin. "Don't get many of these around here," she chuckled.   
I punched in my pin, not knowing what to say.   
The woman placed our bags in the cart, and we thanked her before we left. I let go of Natsu's hand when we exited the building so he could push the cart with both hands.   
"Well that was interesting," he said, opening the trunk of my car. I helped him place the hundreds of bags in the car, not commenting. He grabbed my arm as I turned to the cart to grab another bag. "Seriously, thanks."   
I gave him a weak smile. "No problem." 

Natsu literally took an hour putting groceries away. I was sitting in the car texting Levy and cutting off our conversation before she could ask about how my hangover was which I knew would lead to her asking about Natsu because that's just Levy. Erza also texted me saying that she fell asleep in her student council meeting and Mira Jane winked at Jellal because she thought that they were up late doing...things. I responded with a winky face.   
Anyway, when Natsu finally came back out I turned the keys in the ignition, but he didn't hop over the door like he normally did. He just cleared his throat, crossed his arms, and stood there.   
"I have to drive there ya know," Natsu said, a smirk painted across his face.   
I groaned, knowing his reason, slipping into the passengers seat. Natsu smiled, sliding into his seat and driving off.   
We ended up parking on a small hill, almost a cliff, with trees surrounding us. The view was breath taking, and I couldn't help but feel over-whelmed with the setting sun over the city. The orange and red tint made everything even more beautiful.   
Natsu pulled out his pack of cigarettes, plucking one from its place. He held the box out to me, his dangling from his lips. I took one, not sure if I should continue this habit. I had smoked a few times, but I was always too afraid of getting addicted to continue.  
Natsu lit our cigarettes and we took a few drags before I broke the silence. "So."   
He raise his eyebrow, laughing, smoke trailing from his lips. "That's it?"   
I shrugged, turning my body so my shoulder was against the seat and I was facing him. "It really is beautiful."  
He mimicked my actions, taking another drag. "My mom used to take me and my sister up here."  
I nodded, smiling, not wanting to push about details of his family after what happened earlier today.   
Natsu's phone buzzed beside him. He didn't pick it up, just looked at the contact name displayed on the screen. I giggled when I read the text.   
Ice Princess: Oi, where are you?  
"Ice princess?" I asked, trying to hold in my laughter.   
Natsu held a hand to his heart. "Cold as ice, bro."   
I tried not to think about the name he just called me. Bro.   
"Hey, I don't really know why you guys hate each other."   
Natsu rolled his eyes, taking a short drag. "We were like, best friend from fourth grade to eighth. We would tease each other and have playful banter run freely between us. We were the cool kids. Lisanna, me, Erza, Gray, Loke, and Cana. Inseparable. Gray...he was my best friend. He was there when my mom passed, and would help get me out of tough situations with my dad, and, I don't know. I left for a year and when I came back there was still banter and teasing, it just wasn't playful anymore. I don't know what happened. I'm guessing rumors got spread about me and how I was in rehab or some shit, but I never stuck up for myself. I figured he was just mad at me for not contacting him. It's not like I could."  
"God," I said, grimacing. "Was your dad that bad?"   
Natsu nodded. "Anyway, I didn't reconnect with the group after I came back from my year of homeschooling. I mean...Lisanna and I still talk a little, but not like we used to."  
It took all of my willpower not to cringe at the sound of her name. I forced myself to look like she was that girl I talked to in class when the teacher said we could talk for he last five minutes. "Tell me about what happened between you two." I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively and I was rewarded with one eye-roll.   
"I dated her when I was like, 13. It's not a big deal." I noticed him pushing the subject away, but this one isn't on the sensitive topic list.   
"Come on, tell me more. What were the details?"   
"Well I was 13 in a boring town with another 13 year old who I had a sexual attraction too. Those kinds of details?"  
My heart warmed at the past tense being used. Lisanna could suck my ass.   
"Come on, just, what you guys would do and stuff."  
"Well, I didn't have a car or even a bike so we didn't do much. Mainly hung out at her house or with the gang. It was that awkward stage of life where kissing was the only socially acceptable thing to do as a couple. Not like I wanted to go farther. I was like, 12. Anyway, I guess we would go to the movies and that cafe downtown, but not much."   
"Why'd you guys break up?"   
Natsu shrugged. "I guess we never really did formally. When dad took me out of school in ninth grade none of the tutors could stand me. I couldn't keep in touch with anyone, so when I came back in the fall of last year...people were distant. I didn't feel right talking to anyone, and then things with Gray got rough and...and then I dyed my hair. I was tired of always blending in with this stupid dull brown hair, so I dyed it a color that would stand out." He tugged on the ends of it, and I noticed the mousy brown roots. "I liked the color, so I've kept it this way. Zeref never said anything about it, though." There was a distant look in Natsu's eyes as he stared just past my head and into the wooded area. His black onyx eyes entranced me, reminding me of something but I wasn't quite sure what. Then Natsu shook his head, snapping us both back to reality. "Sorry, I ramble a lot. I just...never had anyone to talk about that with."   
I smiled, resting my hand on his. "It's okay." I don't know why I was so stupid, letting those words leave my mouth then being too embarrassed to say anything else. Natsu only smiled, pulling my hand to his chest.   
"It's weird," he said, massaging circles in the palm of my hand. "I feel like I've known you for a long time; like I can share anything with you."  
"I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way," I agreed, my voice barely above a whisper.   
His free hand rose to my cheek, brushing stray hairs behind my ears. His fingers were soft, but the backs of his hands were rough, and I couldn't come up with a good explanation to why. My mind was wandering and my eyes were lost in his and I couldn't focus on just one thing at a time and then he leaned in my head heart started pounding like crazy and-  
He stopped. Inches away from my face, he just froze. "I, uh," he said, his hand still on my cheek. "I just realized that I never really had any consent to kiss you before and I feel horrible and-"   
"Just kiss me you idiot," I breathed before grasping his shirt and bringing him to me. We kissed for what felt like hours, my heart beating double time in my chest every second. We tasted of a mix of cigarette smoke and nicotine with a hint of vanilla mixed in from the lip gloss I had nervously put on while I waited for Natsu to put the groceries away. My eyelashes brushed against Natsu's tanned cheeks as we pushed up against each other into an uncomfortable position, but neither of us cared. Cars were always uncomfortable to make out in.  
It was like I was running with a blindfold on and suddenly I hit a brick wall. Why else would Natsu take me here? He wanted to get in my pants, just like everyone else. I thought he was different. Well, sucks for you, Dragneel! I don't want to have sex with ANYONE.   
I shoved him away by the chest, slapping his hand away from my cheek. "I can't believe you!" I shouted, wiping away any remnace of his from my mouth.   
"What?" Natsu asked, looking thoroughly confused.   
"Oh, don't you pull that card with me!" I yelled. "Why else would you bring me up to this secluded area of the woods?"   
"Because my mom used to take me up here and I wanted to show you." He sounded pretty confused. Was I wrong to jump to conclusions?   
"No, you want to get in my pants."  
His brows furrowed together. "I just wanted to explain a few things to you before you got too confused."  
"No," I insisted. "You want to get in my pants."   
"I wanted to explain things to you."  
My heart wrenched, and I recognized that that was all Natsu had intended.   
"You wanted to explain things to me..." I repeated. Natsu nodded, his expression too hard to read.   
"I'm...I'm sorry. I'm just so used to that happening that I just- I'm sorry."   
Natsu smiled, shaking his head. "Oh, Heartfilia. You are a strange one."   
The corner of my mouth lifted, glad that he was so understanding.   
"It's getting late," I said, looking out across the city. The sky was beginning to darken from a orange red to a purplish blue. People had began to turn on their lights, and they seemed to twinkle in the dim light.   
Natsu turned the keys in the ignition, backing away from the edge of the cliff. We made small talk on the way back into town, me laughing at jokes he made. I liked to think that we would do this a lot, but that would break my rule: no boys. If Natsu and I were just friends, I would have no problem with doing this with him. But we weren't. We were so much more and so complicated after knowing each other for just four day I had no idea of how to explain our relationship.   
The town was bustling with people at this early hour of the night. Mid-November in Zentopia would be so much quieter than here in Magnolia. My "friends" would have girls nights in which I would rarely be invited to, and I'm guessing the guys lurked around tier houses as well. Zentopia was a strange place. Here, though, there were so many people out and having fun I could hardly believe it. There was a group of kids our age walking down the street, all with the Sabertooth insignia on the backs of their leather jackets. The group of them walked behind Fairy Tail and into the extension club. I felt tempted to do the same.   
I looked around the town as we drove through the dim streets. Shops with interesting names lined the streets, obvious tourist attractions. Only one shop really caught my eye. It was a small shop, painted a faded purple, with a hand painted sign that read "Psychic" out front. There were candles one window, along with a display of several packs of tarot cards. The other window was decorated with stones and what looked like zodiac constellations. I named each one before they were too far away to see.   
Natsu pulled into his driveway, not turning off the car right away. He kept his hands on the wheel, his shoulders tensing as he looked strait ahead. The black doge charger that almost killed me earlier was parked in front of us.   
"Hey," I said, extending my arm to touch his now swollen one. He flinched. "You can stay at my place tonight if you want."   
He gave me a small nod before pulling out of the driveway and making his way to my house.   
Natsu pulled into my driveway, which ticked on the automatic light. We didn't get out right away when Natsu clicked off the ignition and handed my my car keys. He looked at me, turning of his side. "So," he said with a small smile.   
"So," I said, plopping on my side as well. "Are we going to talk about us?"   
He smirked, raising his hand to brush a few stray hairs behind my ear. "What's there to talk about? You don't date," his eyes were warm with affection. "I won't push anything on you."   
Tears formed in my eyes as he said that, my heart beat picking up speed. Natsu's face change into an expression of worry and confusion as he brushed the tears from my cheeks. "Hey, hey, hey, don't cry. Why are you crying?" I smiled weakly, trying to make myself talk.   
"Because," I said, my throat closing up. "No one has ever considered my feelings before."   
Realization flooded Natsu's expression, and my heart beat even faster. With wide eyes, he asked, "Is that why you freaked out earlier?"   
I nodded slightly, letting the tears slip from my closed eyes. "Ah," I said, wiping the tears from my cheeks. "I need to stop crying around you." I smiled, unbuckling my seat belt. "Let's go inside."  
Natsu helped me set up my computer when we got to my room.   
"That software is way newer than my old laptops," I mused, sitting on the edge of my bed.   
"Yeah, Apple updates their shit like every three months. Gotta stay on top of things." There was a certain sadness in his voice that I couldn't understand.   
I grabbed his hands. "Hey, are you okay?"   
He shrugged. "I don't know."   
My fingers tranced over the bandages on his arms and the small welts of skin that were beginning to scab. Natsu flinched. I began to pull my hand away, but Natsu grabbed it again, pulling it to his chest, taking a step closer to me. "I'm fine."   
I nodded, my eyes wandering from his eyes to his lips, remembering how they felt on mine. He was apparently thinking the same thing. I didn't think of anything when he bent down and pressed our lips together. I wanted him close to me; I didn't want anything else to hurt him. He sat down next to me, one hand on my waist and the other on my thigh. I was thinking a million thoughts yet nothing made sense in my head. The only think I could hear loudly was my heart beat, pounding in my chest.   
Somehow we ended up lying down, Natsu on top of me. My feet were dangling off the side of the bed. His hands skimmed my arms, grabbing my wrists and slowing bringing them up toward my head, intertwining our fingers. I couldn't help but sigh as he kissed my cheeks and neck, his hands moving back to my waist. I laced my fingers in his hair as he brought his mouth back up to mine. His tongue rolled against my lip, and just as I opened my mouth, the door to my room opened. I groaned, turning my head to look at whoever had entered.   
Luke stood dumbstruck in my doorway, looking between Natsu and I. Natsu blushed furiously, but I just rolled my eyes. "Take a picture, it'll last longer."   
"Nothing happened between you two, huh?"   
"Get out!" I threw one of my pillows at him just before he swung the door shut.   
I let out a disappointed sigh, sitting up front underneath Natsu. "Well that was a turnoff."   
The door opened again, and a hand dropped about seven foil rapped condoms. I threw another pillow at the door. "He only has so many because he never gets laid. Which also might be why he's so salty."  
Natsu laughed, kissing me lightly.   
We slept peacefully that night, me wrapped in Natsu's arms, my back against his chest. There was no way I could just leave him behind now. What had I gotten myself into?


End file.
